Grow Plants And Vegetables In Gutters (DIY Gutter Planter)

Is it resourceful or cheap to repurpose old stuff? Personally, I’m all for it but at the same time, I’ve seen first hand what it looks like to turn a section of your home into an abstract art project by experimenting with old stuff. Thankfully, one of our successful attempts at repurposing something happened to be with gutters, and we were able to create this DIY gutter planter.

That’s right! Old gutters can be repurposed into planters that can be mounted on walls or placed on a table.

The featured image above is an example of what we were able to do with gutters that our neighbors were getting rid of.

For some reason, my father suggested that we accept a few, and he decided to turn them into wall planters.

At first, I was skeptical but when I observed how easy it was for us to grow all sorts of herbs and flowers in them, I had to share it here on my blog.

The idea of mounting them onto outdoor walls is great for a few reasons:

1. They don’t have to be an obstruction on the floor or ground.
2. They can receive adequate sunlight.
3. They don’t rot or breakdown from exposure to rain or moisture.
4. They can be used to decorate a wall with beautiful greenery.

Best of all, it doesn’t have to cost you a cent if they are used or old gutters.

How To Use Gutters As A Planter

I was worried that gutters aren’t deep enough to pack them with enough soil for growing herbs and plants.

But I was wrong.

Case in point: I was able to grow butterhead lettuce in them.

Also, I’ve grown strawberries, chives, and coriander in these DIY gutter planters.

Granted, the latter two aren’t large plants that require much nutrients and space to grow.

Another issue with gutters is that certain ends have no enclosure. That’s problematic. It is absolutely necessary to close off the ends with some kind of board, whether it be plastic or wood.

As you can see from the image below, that is exactly what we did.

These gutters are pliable and thin enough to have holes inserted in them even without a drill.

Okay, let’s talk about mounting them onto the wall.

Thankfully, most gutters come with pre-existing mounts.

Where you might have trouble is with drilling screw holes in the wall which requires a powerful drill.

I’m sure there are other ways to prop them up but this is just how we chose to do it.

As you can see from the image below, we used an anchored rimmed nail to secure this DIY gutter planter on the wall.

I’m really happy with how these gutters turned out but if I had more of a say in how they look, I would paint and decorate them in a different way than my father did.

But, that really just boils down to personal preference.

I hope that you enjoyed this article on how to use gutters as a planter. Feel free to drop your questions in the comment section below, and I’ll do my best to help out. Also, please share this with someone who may like it as well.

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