Better Homes and Gardens (Australia)
EASY STEPS TO A HYDROPONIC GUTTER GARDEN
Gather your supplies
• Guttering and stop ends
• Brackets to suit guttering
• 90 x 45mm treated pine
• Fired clay pebbles
• Large pot
• Pond pump
• 13mm irrigation pipe and fittings
• 1/2in copper pipe
• 15mm pipe saddles
• Plants such as marigolds, strawberries
You’ll also need Hacksaw; drill; 3mm drill bit; pop rivets; pop rivet gun; silicone; caulking gun; 30mm screws; drill; geotextile fabric; pond sealer; paintbrush; aquatic epoxy putty; pipe bender; liquid fertiliser
Here’s how
STEP 1 Cut guttering into 3 equal lengths with a hacksaw.
STEP 2 Place stop end in one gutter flush with end. Use 3mm drill bit to drill 2 holes through back of gutter and tab on stop end.
STEP 3 Insert pop rivets into gutter and stop end holes.
STEP 4 Slide pop rivet gun all the way over pin on first rivet. Pull trigger on gun a few times to tighten rivet until pin snaps off. Remove pin from gun. Repeat for second rivet.
STEP 5 Repeat Steps 2-4 to install pop rivets in the front and bottom of gutter and stop end, then with a stop end on the other end of the gutter. Repeat Steps 2-5 for the other 2 gutter pieces.
STEP 6 Use a caulking gun to spread generous beads of silicone around inside junction of each gutter and stop end. Use your finger to force silicone into gap between the two and around ends of pop rivets. STEP 7 Place a gutter
bracket at the highest end of where the topmost length of guttering will sit. Screw in place through holes in back of bracket.
STEP 8 Sit length of gutter in bracket and slope it down steeply to exaggerate the design, here by about 50mm.
Slip another bracket over bottom end of gutter, hold it in place then remove gutter. Screw bracket in place. STEP 9 Install a bracket halfway between 2 already attached. Make sure this bracket is properly in line with the others so gutter will sit evenly in all 3 brackets. STEP 10 Position gutter in brackets. Bend tabs at front of brackets over gutter to
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hold it in place.
STEP 11 Install brackets for the lower rows of guttering, zig zagging them down on the diagonal. If installing along a balustrade, as here, screw brackets to a length of treated pine, angling the pine to achieve the desired slope. Make thickness of the pine to ensure gutters are all aligned vertically, allowing water to drop from one to the next.
STEP 12 Drill drainage holes at the bottom end of each length of gutter to allow water to drain out. Cover each of the areas with small squares of geotextile fabric or old stockings to prevent them getting clogged.
STEP 13 Fill guttering with clay pebbles and plants. Before putting plants in, remove soil from bottom of the roots to expose them.
STEP 14 Apply pond sealer to interior of pot with a paintbrush and leave to dry. Plug any drainage holes with putty and leave to cure. Sit pot at the end of the lowest gutter and put a thin layer of pebbles in the bottom. Sit pump on top and run the irrigation pipe and power lead out the top. Use irrigation pipe and fitting to run under the lowest gutter to the other end of it.
STEP 15 Use a pipe bender to bend one end of copper pipe to form a spout. Hold against side of gutters so spout sits above top gutter. Mark other end at bottom of lowest gutter and cut to size with hacksaw.
STEP 16 Attach spout to side of guttering using pipe saddles. Connect irrigation pipe from pump to bottom of spout.
STEP 17 Fill pot with water and turn on pump so it flows out of spout. Add liquid feed according to instructions.