This project was quick, easy and very effective to do and best of all, it only cost a couple of screws and a glue stick. If you are like us stuck for places to grow your salad food close to home you can take advantage of any spare guttering you have or find in skips. You can find old guttering down the side of houses, at building sites or in skips, just check with the house owner first in case they still want them.
Step One
Collect Guttering from Authorised Source – You don’t need to buy new guttering, it’s expensive and there are lots of gutters laying around going to waste.
Try to find the brackets too. If you can’t find any brackets you can pick them up from your local DIY store for £1.50 each for the cheapest kind.
Step Two
Dig some plastic milk bottles out of the recycling bin, if you don’t have any you may find a few in any of the recycling bins in your street. It’s better to reuse something than to recycle it so don’t worry about it but you can always ask permission from the house owner first just to make sure. In fact, it usually strikes up a fun and interesting conversation! Cut the milk bottles in half vertically and horizontally and take the halves of the base.
Step Three
Using a low watt glue gun (available from most DIY or arts & crafts stores), glue the base and sides of the milk carton quarter to the guttering to seal up the ends like this:
Step Four
Drill holes along the base of the gutter to allow the water to escape and avoid boggy soil.
Step Five
Fill the bottom of the gutter with small pebbles or rock fragments to improve the drainage of the soil. Than top the gutter up with good all purpose compost or general soil fit for planting.
Step Six
Transplant plants of your choice to the soil and ensure you water after planting.
Step Seven
Place gutter brackets on to your chosen area with screws such as a bare fence panel or the side of your garden shed. Make sure the guttering gets plenty of direct sunlight through out the day but also gets the most light for the longest duration of the day. When fixed into place simply slide and snap the guttering into place.
