I pulled together a few photos to show the space in the backyard, and some of the constraints. We have an existing building in the backyard, that houses an art studio, shown above. Between the studio and the fence, is a spot that I’ve currently got a raised-bed garden. I plan to move that garden elsewhere in the backyard, if the shed can occupy that narrow space.We’ll have to see what we can do with this narrow space.

This is the space I have in mind for a lean-to style shed.

The ground here is just dirt, covered with some landscape gravel. It is quite level already.

2026-Apr-3

Here is an alternate idea!

We could use the same back corner of the yard, but have the shed up against (or nearer to) the fence instead. Here, the tape is showing 4 feet out from the fence itself.

There is plenty of overhead here, as there is nothing overhead in this space.

Looking towards the fence, here you can see the tape at 10 foot length.

I am planning to move that raised bed garden elsewhere in the backyard.

The ground is fairly flat here, with some gravel to cover, along with bare earth. It should be noted that the closer to the back fence you get, there is a cedar hedge along the property line, with roots near ground surface.

These are 8 foot fence panels. The tape is shown at a 10 foot distance along the fence. I think we can fit am 8’x4′ lean-to style structure here, or a 10′ x 4′.

2026-Mar-22

I had this idea to place the shed up against the out-building, as described below. I’ve revised that concept in favour of that listed above.

The tape here is at 6 foot 7 inches, the distance from the fence to the existing studio. I plan to remove the tools from the wall-mount brackets. Hopefully they wind up in the future shed.

The tape here shows 8 feet from the back corner of the studio, down to where the yellow hoe is placed against the wall.

The overhead clearance where the hoe is placed is 8 feet from the ground up to the roof-line.

I moved the yellow hoe a little farther along the wall than in the last shot. At this spot, the overhead clearance is 7 feet, from the ground up to the roof line.

Here, the tape is shown at the 4-foot mark from the wall.