Growing Strawberries In A Rain Gutter
Plant the strawberries in early spring.
Growing strawberries in a rain gutter. These rain gutters not only keep pests away but they make for much easier gardening. There are definitely benefits to growing strawberries in gutters. Rain gutters can be mounted to the side of decks or vertically to the side of your house or shed to create a strawberry wall a rain gutter about 4 and a half feet long is enough to grow 3 4 strawberry plants depending on plant size. Benefits of growing strawberry plants in gutters.
These rain gutters not only keep pests away but they make for much easier gardening. Strawberry plants are small. Like you mentioned having the strawberry plants raised off the ground helps keep them clean which is a major benefit. You can also plant in the autumn where winters are milder.
Cut a piece of gutter 4 1 2 feet long using tin snips for metal gutters and a pvc handsaw or circular saw. In the past in our strawberry bed we grew berries of the june bearing and ever bearing variety. Fill the gutter within a half inch of the top lip with potting soil scooping the soil into the gutter by hand or with a gardening trowel. Another great thing about this is that your berries will be portable.
Here are the primary benefits of growing strawberry plants in gutters. You can mount the gutters vertically or horizontally to save space. The great thing about some of these plants like strawberries is if you have them above they ll hand down and create a hanging garden you can pick from. Not just strawberries either but all kinds of fruits and vegetables can be grown in gutters.
In time we decided we just preferred the june bearing so we ripped out all of the ever bearing. A section of rain gutter about 4 1 2 feet long is enough to grow three strawberry plants. Strawberry plants do not set large nets of roots and growing them in a gutter should not be a problem as properly evidenced in many places do a google image search for strawberry tunnel cultivation. Michael drilled holes in the gutter towards the bottom every 1 1 2 or so for proper drainage.