Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Rain Gutter Planter

My beloved Superman was home on leave for two and a half weeks and we have some wonderful pictures of that time that I'll be sharing later this week.  In the meantime, I have a quick and easy garden project to share with you.
The flowers wish I had done this project last week.  They'll look better in a few days.
It is so easy.  All you need is a length of plastic/vinyl rain gutter (I got ours from Home Depot) with the anchors and endcaps. 

I guessed how many anchors I'd need, based on the length of the gutter and
the anticipated weight of the dirt and plants when wet.  (50" warranted 4 anchors.)
Put it all together and attach it to a flat, vertical surface.  I attached our to the deck railing with a screw in each anchor.  (Depending upon your plant selections, you will need to decide whether or not you will need to drill drainage holes.) 

The finished planter in place with a drip line ready to go.
Fill it with dirt and add your plants.  Ta da!

The finished project!  I love how it turned out.
That is it...you are done.  Now, at this point, I have to tell you that my children thought this was a stupid idea until it was actually done.  Then, in the high praise of the teen-aged language, they conceded:  "Mom, we kind of thought this was a stupid idea, but now that you finished it, it really looks good!"

So, if you're willing to face teen-aged scorn, I urge you to give this garden project a try.  You won't be disappointed.

1 comment:

Tia Manly said...

It’s a pretty crafty idea to use rain gutters as planters. We also have a rain gutter planter at our backyard. I’ve hung three layers together and put plants in them. They’ve actually grown quite big already, but your flowers are beautiful.