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Q: What is a Gutter Garden™?
A: Simply put, a Gutter Garden™ is a planter made from aluminum rain gutter material. One can grow various kinds of annual herbs, flowers, plants and vegetables. It hangs on or is attached to a deck or balcony rail or can be screwed into wood or brick/concrete surfaces. It's off the ground so it's great for people who don't have good soil (or any place to garden) The rabbits and deer can't reach your plants...but you can and that makes dead-heading, watering and harvesting easy. It is sometimes called raised bed gardening or "Stand Up and Garden".
This planter is made from high quality, recycled aluminum and should last longer than a lifetime. Each Gutter Garden™ has drainage holes in the bottom with filtering fabric to keep the potting soil inside your planter. We use high quality, toxin-free caulk to keep solvents from leaching into the root systems of your plants.
Gutter Gardens™ give people a distinctive way to successfully garden by removing many of the irritants associated with gardening. For example, flowing (sometimes called ‘wave’) petunias do the best when they are regularly dead-headed (removing spent blooms). This is true of many flowers. Gutter Gardens™ eases that task by giving you the opportunity to do this task while standing up!
Be sure to check out the pictures on this website and on Facebook from customers who are enjoying their Gutter Gardens™ in various settings.
Q: How do I install a Gutter Garden™ ?
A: Included in your purchase are detailed instructions on installing your Gutter Garden™ on various surfaces. With your Gutter Garden™ you will receive stainless steel cable/zip ties.
These ties are used to hang your planter from a deck, balcony, trellis or fence. Two materials, stainless steel and black UV rated cable/zip ties (each 15” long) will arrive along with your planter as will a bracket for planters over 36" long. Depending on the size and length you order, sufficient brackets and ties (or stainless steel screws) will be included with your purchase. You may want to order extra hardware with your purchase as the stainless steel cable ties are not reusable.
Q: How do I plant a Gutter Garden™ ?
You will need approximately 3 dry quarts of potting mix per lineal foot for the 6 inch wide Gutter Garden planter. The 8" wide planter requires about three times more potting soil than its smaller sibling. Be mindful of the sun requirements if you want your plants to flourish. Almost any annual plant including edibles like spinach, kale, lettuce, radishes and many herbs grow well in a sunny spot.
Use only potting mix intended for containers. Avoid digging up your own soil even if it is rich...or buying a bag of topsoil...the container plants need a totally different environment than if they are in the ground.
We don't suggest planting bulbs unless you plan to dig them out each fall. Few things will over-winter in a container...especially one that is so high up from the ground. Bulbs will freeze and turn into mush when they thaw.
One benefit of the 8" wide planter is that it requires watering less often because of the greater mass of the soil medium.
Q: Do Gutter Gardens™ work as window boxes?
Absolutely yes! These durable planters have become very popular because they will never rot or fall apart. They are less expensive than the poly/resin window boxes plus they are made from recycled materials and are not subject to the dangers of UV rays.
If you have an overhang above window box, that means it won't get much rain, so you may want to get the 8" wide planter because it requires less watering. Window boxes come with stainless steel screws and the matching washers. If installing on brick or mortar sills, order the tap-cons which are made for these surfaces.
You'll get a screw for every six inches of length
Q: What tools do I need?
To attach to a railing, you'll need a tin-snip and a pair of needle-nosed pliers. That's it. see the video on this site. So simple a child can (and did) install one!
For screwing into wood (or wood behind vinyl, aluminium or fiber-cement siding), you will need an eighth inch drill bit to make the pilot holes and a screw driver or screw driver bit.
If you need to attach to a retaining wall or a brick/mortar window sill, we'll supply the tap-cons, but you'll need a "hammer drill" with a 3/16" drill bit to make the pilot holes. Also, a 1/4 inch socket for the tap-cons.
Extra cable/zip ties and stainless steel screws are available for a nominal fee at the time of purchase and will add nothing to the shipping/handling fees.
Complete instructions will accompany your purchase.
Although your Gutter Garden™ may be screwed to a wooden fence, shed, as a window box or on a deck. be sure the wood has integrity and can handle the weight of these planters. If you plan to screw them into wood we provide stainless steel screws which will prevent rust. We also offer hardware (tap-cons) for a method to attach your planter to masonry (brick or concrete) surfaces.
Q: What colors of Gutter Gardens™ are available?
A: We offer white, black, dark brown and dark green in lengths from 1 foot to 5 feet long in 6″ wide and from 2 feet-5 feet long in the 8″ wide planters. Both sizes come with filtered drainage holes and hanging holes 2″ apart along the back. The hanging holes can be used with the stainless steel cable ties or stainless steel screws that we provide. The end-caps are double or triple riveted and sealed with a toxin free caulk that has been rated to use around food areas. So it is safe to grow edibles.
We use .032 gauge aluminum on the 6 inch wide planter. The 8″ wide planter is made from recycled .040 gauge aluminum. All planters are from recycled aluminum and are hand made in the USA.
Custom lengths and colors can be purchased on an individual basis. Please email us for special requests. Not all requests can be honored.
Q: Do you make or sell anything else?
A: At the time of purchase of your Gutter Garden™ planters, you may order extra stainless steel cable ties available in various lengths. The size we ship is 15" long and works with 95% of horizontal railings that have vertical balusters. If you have EXTRA large railings, please call us so we can get you what you need. Extra 14″ UV rated black plastic cable ties, tap-cons (for masonry) and stainless steel screws/washers are all available for an additional fee. Ordering these extra ties may come in handy if you decide to move and want to take your planters with you!
Q: How is container gardening with Gutter Gardens™different from other planters?
A: Gutter Gardens™ are made in the USA...is one BIG difference. We are proud to put our neighbors to work making a fine product that we ship to anywhere in the lower 48 states. Look at the products offered at your local stores…almost all are made in foreign countries.
Another distinction is that the raw materials, high quality aluminum (made from recycled aluminum), will not fade, rot, rust, break or crack. It is light weight…and will last almost forever…it is a rain GUTTER for heaven’s sake!
We use a commercial weight .032 gauge aluminium on the 6 inch wide planters. The 8 inch wide Gutter Garden™ planter is made from .040 gauge aluminium. End caps are double or triple riveted. Toxin free caulk is used on all Gutter Garden™ products to prevent solvents from entering the root system. With mounting holes every 2 inches along the back, it will be easy to find a good spot to install them.
We have all purchased various methods of growing things outside of the ground. The reasons we do that is to add color (in the case of flowers) or convenience (in the case of herbs and some vegetables). But we often end up with faded plastic, deteriorated and discolored coconut fiber or wood, cracked or broken terra-cotta, ceramic or concrete planters that are too heavy to move. These options often need to sit on the ground.
The location of your Gutter Garden™ is another big plus…mounting it on a fence, porch, deck, shed or balcony rail allows you to garden, harvest, dead-head and water without having to bend over. (motto: “Stand Up and Garden”)
An extra bonus is that the elevated status removes many of the unpleasant aspects of gardening. No slugs, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, deer, groundhogs, dogs; less insect damage and fewer weeds. Stand Up and Garden solves so many problems with watering, too. Just keep a watering can (with a spout…not a spray head) handy and keep an extra gallon or two of water jugs filled so there will always be water available even if you are in a hurry.