How to Create a Gutter Garden

Learning how to create a gutter garden is a great way to re-purpose worn-out gutters and create a beautiful garden within a limited amount of space. It is also a great way to take advantage of vertical spaces in order to grow flowers, edibles such as strawberries, or herbs. You can even use a gutter garden to create a stylish space divider or privacy screen without spending too much money.

Materials:

• Gutters cut into equal sections
• Gutter end caps (make sure to get left and right end caps!)
• Mounting Brackets and Screws
• Drill

Steps:

1. Clean out your gutters to be free of grime, dirt, and flaking shingles. If you think that your gutters were painted with lead paint, do not repurpose them for any edibles.
2. Cut gutters into equal sections using a handsaw.
3. Repaint the gutters. This step is optional, but your gutters will be more visually appealing when a fresh coat of paint is applied.
4. Drill a series of small holes down the length of the gutter. This is important to allow for the drainage of water.
5. Select a suitable hanging spot. Be sure to position your vertical garden in an area that gets a good amount of sun to promote the growth of your garden. This may include mounting your gutter garden to a fence, the side of a deck, or the siding of your house that receives a lot of sunlight.
6. Fasten the gutter garden to a fence, the side of your home, or a deck with mounting brackets and screws. Be sure to use at least six screws per ten feet of gutter!

When Finished Setting Up Your Gutter Garden

Add soil to your gutter garden and plant them with shallow-rooted plants. Some shallow edibles to consider experimenting with are strawberries, arugula, spinach, beets, radishes, and herbs like cilantro, parsley, and chives. Your new gutter garden is sure to add charm to an otherwise uninteresting area! Learn more about growing your first vegetable garden.

Avoiding Unwanted Gardens in your Gutters

Your gutters have one purpose and one purpose only: to divert water away from your house. If your gutters become filled with unwanted debris such as leaves, twigs, and shingle grit, the flow of water will be interrupted, causing a significant amount of damage to your home.

If you are finding that you repeatedly have to climb that high ladder to clean out your clogged and debris-filled eaves, consider a micro-mesh gutter guard protection system such as LeafFilter. LeafFilter’s openings are 50 microns thin, so not even a grain of sand will get through – only water.

LeafFilter Gutter Guards will protect you and your home from serious and costly damage caused by clogged gutters.

Have you ever tried to create a gutter garden of your own? We’d love to see it!