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.

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.

Lengths available 11"-27"

 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.

You will need approximately 6 dry quarts of potting mix per lineal foot for the Gutter Garden planter. 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.

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 will need to water frequently...even if it rains. 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  

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, aluminum 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 concrete 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 come in handy if you want to move your planter to a different location. Most of the hardware is not re-usable.

Complete installation 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.

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 aluminium on the 6 inch wide planter. The 8″ wide planter is made from recycled .040 gauge aluminium. All planters are from recycled aluminium 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.

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!

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.

 

Can with a spout

 

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.

Like most aluminum rain gutters, your newly purchased planters should last for many, many years. It’s important to know that aluminum has metallic properties that do not play well with some other metals and chemicals. For example, if you decide to use any kind of metal (including chicken wire) inside or on the aluminum planter (some people use their planters to hold artificial plants/flowers) it will cause a chemical reaction that will damage the integrity of the aluminum. This is also the case with some fertilizers…so, be mindful that any substance other than potting mix and live plants may reduce the life expectancy of your planters.

Cleaning the exterior of your Gutter Garden is as simple as using a mild soapy spray cleaner to wipe away any dirt. If there are more permanent stains, we recommend using a damp sponge and baking soda to gently rub them away.

After a few years, the bottom hole filter will disintegrate. We suggest you use something like coffee filters to replace it.

While intended for living plants, these planters can be used for artificial plants/flowers. We recommend using the floral foam that’s available at most nursery and craft stores. Do not use metal wire or flower picks that contain metal because if metal comes into contact with the aluminum…it will cause corrosion and deteriorate the planter. Some Gutter Gardeners have used the fairy lights in their planters. This is really attractive…but keep in mind the corrosive impact any metal can have on the finish. Aluminum and non-aluminum metals do not work well together and will shorten the length of your planter by causing pre-mature holes/corrosion. Try to protect the finish by using plastic or nylon as a buffer between the metal and the aluminum.

Potting mix can be very expensive and since plants use the nutrients to grow…it’s important to re-supply the mix with what the plants will need to grow. It's generally fine to reuse potting soil if whatever you were growing in it was healthy. However, if you did notice pests or diseases on your plants, it's best to sterilize the mix to avoid infecting next year's plants. Directions for sterilizing are in below:

First, remove any roots, grubs, leaves, and other debris from the old potting soil. Then, decide on the best method for banishing microbes and insects.

The easiest way to for sterilizing soil is called “solarizing”. It involves putting old potting soil in lidded, five-gallon buckets or black plastic bags that are tightly tied shut and leaving them in the sun for 4-6 weeks. The heat builds up inside the buckets or bags just enough to kill bugs and pathogens.

While this not recommended (based on a personal experience and some long lasting smells ) you also can sterilize old potting soil in your oven. Place it in an oven-safe pan, cover with foil, and bake it at 180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes It's also important to check the soil temperature with a candy or meat thermometer) to make sure it stays below 200 degrees. Higher temperatures can release toxins. When it's done, take the soil out of the oven and keep it covered until it cools.

Once your old potting soil has either been sterilized…or it didn’t show evidence of disease or insects, you'll need to replenish its nutrients. You can do this by combining equal parts of new potting soil with the old and adding a dose of slow-release fertilizer according to package directions. I also like to mix in compost, peat and perlite which gives the potting mix some structure and plenty of food for your plants.

There are many You Tube videos that show you various methods of rejuvenating potting mix.