HOW TO MAKE A HANGING GUTTER GARDEN
Carol- Admin
- Posts : 31742
Join date : 2010-04-07
Location : Hawaii
_________________
What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night, the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
With deepest respect ~ Aloha & Mahalo, Carol
Carol- Admin
- Posts : 31742
Join date : 2010-04-07
Location : Hawaii
If you plan to plant edibles in a PVC gutter, it’s best to line the inside with heavy-duty landscape plastic (be sure to poke holes in the plastic for drainage). Over time, exposure to the sun can start to break down the materials used to make PVC and potentially leach into the soil.
Materials
1 – 8′ PVC white rain gutter cut into 3 32″ sections
6 – PVC white gutter end caps
2 – 1/8″diameter steel cables cut to desired length
6 – Feeney Cross Clamps (see image below)
6 – 1/8″ diameter Feeney steel rods
2 – Galvanized eye hooks Level
Potting soil and Plants
Tools
Cordless Drill with drill bit set
Hand saw or hack saw
T-square or straight edge
Tape measure
Permanent marker
Eye protection
Close up of Feeney’s super sleek cross clamps.
Let’s get started already…
Determine the center of your gutters and draw a reference line (otherwise your gutter won’t hang right).
Mark and drill the holes for the steel cable rods. Find a drill bit the same diameter as the cable to minimize the wiggle room.
Space drill holes a few sizes larger to make sure you get good drainage (plant roots hate sitting in water for long periods of time).
Once you have all your gutter holes drilled, you’re ready to hang this bad boy. Be patient…we’ll be planting very soon.
1. Locate a spot that gets at least 4 hours of sun. I placed mine on the cross beams of a pergola I built a couple of years ago.
2. Drill pilot holes (a hole slightly smaller in diameter than the screw diameter) to make screwing in the eye hook a lot easier. Make sure the holes are the same distance as the steel cable so they hang straight down.
3. Slide the gutters through the holes and secure them with the cross clamps at your desired heights. You’ll notice I placed mesh tape (normally used for drywall joints), left over from another project, over the drainage holes to keep the soil from seeping. However, I think the holes are small enough, this step is not necessary. I did it out of habit.
4. Secure the gutter with the cross clamps and half circle steel rods (Note: I bent the steel rods around my Nalgene bottle. It just happened to be the perfect diameter of the gutters).
Now you’re ready to fill it with organic potting soil and plant them with your choice of shallow rooted plants. I found watering to be easier with a narrow spout watering can like this Aqua Genie Watering Can. Hoses will blast your soil all over the place and rain-style spouts will water your plants and not the soil (note: water your soil NOT your plants).
PLANT PICKS FOR GUTTER GARDENS
Shallow rooted edibles and annual flowers should grow easily in a gutter garden, making this project perfect for small space gardens, like balconies, or just to add visual interest to an otherwise boring patio. Scroll down to see how the plants filled in a month after planting.
Here’s a list of edibles to experiment with in your new gutter garden:
Arugula, spinach, swiss chard, kale and all kinds of lettuces
Annual herbs – cilantro, parsley, chives
Strawberries – buy bare roots to save money and make planting easier
Root Veggies – beets, radishes and maybe shallow carrot varieties like Tonda di parigi
Annual Flowers – marigolds, nasturtiums, pansies and violas
Materials
1 – 8′ PVC white rain gutter cut into 3 32″ sections
6 – PVC white gutter end caps
2 – 1/8″diameter steel cables cut to desired length
6 – Feeney Cross Clamps (see image below)
6 – 1/8″ diameter Feeney steel rods
2 – Galvanized eye hooks Level
Potting soil and Plants
Tools
Cordless Drill with drill bit set
Hand saw or hack saw
T-square or straight edge
Tape measure
Permanent marker
Eye protection
Close up of Feeney’s super sleek cross clamps.
Determine the center of your gutters and draw a reference line (otherwise your gutter won’t hang right).
Mark and drill the holes for the steel cable rods. Find a drill bit the same diameter as the cable to minimize the wiggle room.
Space drill holes a few sizes larger to make sure you get good drainage (plant roots hate sitting in water for long periods of time).
1. Locate a spot that gets at least 4 hours of sun. I placed mine on the cross beams of a pergola I built a couple of years ago.
2. Drill pilot holes (a hole slightly smaller in diameter than the screw diameter) to make screwing in the eye hook a lot easier. Make sure the holes are the same distance as the steel cable so they hang straight down.
3. Slide the gutters through the holes and secure them with the cross clamps at your desired heights. You’ll notice I placed mesh tape (normally used for drywall joints), left over from another project, over the drainage holes to keep the soil from seeping. However, I think the holes are small enough, this step is not necessary. I did it out of habit.
4. Secure the gutter with the cross clamps and half circle steel rods (Note: I bent the steel rods around my Nalgene bottle. It just happened to be the perfect diameter of the gutters).
Now you’re ready to fill it with organic potting soil and plant them with your choice of shallow rooted plants. I found watering to be easier with a narrow spout watering can like this Aqua Genie Watering Can. Hoses will blast your soil all over the place and rain-style spouts will water your plants and not the soil (note: water your soil NOT your plants).
PLANT PICKS FOR GUTTER GARDENS
Shallow rooted edibles and annual flowers should grow easily in a gutter garden, making this project perfect for small space gardens, like balconies, or just to add visual interest to an otherwise boring patio. Scroll down to see how the plants filled in a month after planting.
Here’s a list of edibles to experiment with in your new gutter garden:
Arugula, spinach, swiss chard, kale and all kinds of lettuces
Annual herbs – cilantro, parsley, chives
Strawberries – buy bare roots to save money and make planting easier
Root Veggies – beets, radishes and maybe shallow carrot varieties like Tonda di parigi
Annual Flowers – marigolds, nasturtiums, pansies and violas
_________________
What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night, the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
With deepest respect ~ Aloha & Mahalo, Carol