Gutter gardening

[mattk]

Hi there,

New user to the site. I'm looking for some feedback about gutter gardening - i.e. when you don't have room in your yard for a full garden, but use gutter tubing to grow veggies and whatnot. I heard about this idea from a friend and am wondering if anyone has tried it? I was thinking I could put the gardens over the side of my back deck and let the plants grow down...assuming they don't get to heavy.

Any feedback would be great!

[AlexMcG]

I've never heard of this... Do you mean basically using a gutter as a long planter box? (I think I'm confused by what you mean by "gutter tubing;" the gutter is the open-top part that runs horizontally along the edge of the roof, the tube-like part that comes down is called a downspout.)

Assuming you're talking about using gutters as planters, my concerns would be drainage and depth. You wouldn't be able to plant much that likes to send deep roots, but if you're talking about trailing plants or ground-covers, that wouldn't really be an issue. I think if you're careful about what plants you choose, and you drill holes for adequate drainage, this could work fairly well.

Though you are right that weight would be an issue; gutters are fairly flimsy, even when they're attached to a roof, which, to be strong, requires a bracket that holds both top edges—the side against the roof and the side away from it. Those brackets are typically spaced about 2-feet apart, and block 2-3 inches of the gutter's open top. If you try to just attach the side against your railing, I'm pretty sure you'd find your plants on the ground after the first hard rain. I'd just go with planter boxes myself, since they tend to be deeper (which you'd need for veggies) and they'll be more sturdy and easy to move.

Neat idea though! If you try it, I'd love to hear how it works out!