If you want to grow some strawberries this year, but you don't have a lot of space in your garden, then give this DIY Strawberry Gutter a try - it's cheap to make too.
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Nothing tastes more like summer than fresh, juicy strawberries, and with Wimbledon having just finished, this wonderful little fruit is always popular.
With over 28,000 kilos of strawberries eaten during Wimbledon fortnight alone, it's no wonder people are always after them. Like most people that live in the city, we don't have a lot of garden space, so we choose to grow upwards.
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Why Should You Make It?
- Homegrown fruit
- Simple to make, with only a few steps
- Really inexpensive to make
- Space saving
How to Build Strawberry Gutter - Step by Step
- Step 1: Measure your space and using a hacksaw cut the gutter to the lengths you require (mine are 1 metre/39 inches long each).
- Step 2: Using a drill, make drainage holes in the base, spaced about 15cm/6 inches apart. Put the stop ends on and the gutter is ready.
At this point, the brackets can be fixed to a vertical surface if you have a suitable one available and the gutter clipped into them.
I constructed a simple frame from treated timber (it's important the timber is treated as it will be resistant to the weather). This also makes the whole gutter system portable, should it need to be relocated.
- Step 3: For the frame, I used two lengths of 140x22mm/6x1" timber for the uprights and two lengths of 50x38mm/2x1.5" timber for the cross supports. I cut the uprights to 1500mm/59 inches each and the cross supports at 1100mm/43 inches each. For the uprights, measure where you want the brackets to be and screw them at equal distances apart. Do this for both uprights.
- Step 4: Position the cross supports at the back of the uprights and screw into place to make the frame.
- Step 5: Clip in the cutter lengths and the frame will be ready to be stood up. For extra support, I fixed the frame at the bottom of the uprights to a raised bed that we already had.
- Step 6: The gutter can now finally be filled with compost (leave a small space below the rim for watering) and you can plant your strawberries. This type of growing gutter is also good for microgreens, pea shoots and herbs.
How to Grow Strawberries in a Small Space
Growing your own strawberries is easy - there are varieties that can be grown in sunny spots as well as shady areas. Make sure you research the type of strawberry you want to grow before planting, as a sun loving variety with not do well in a shady place.
Strawberry plants that are grown successfully can harvest lots of fruit, but the plants can also take up quite a bit of space. If you are limited for growing space, what can you do when you can't grow plants out? You grow upwards!
What Guttering to Use
Plastic guttering can be bought from most builders' merchants or large DIY stores for a fairly reasonable price. Don't forget that you will also need brackets and stop ends.
Choose a gutter that has a fairly deep profile, to maximise the amount of soil and space for the roots to grow.
Once you have selected the type of gutter you want (there are many designs and colours to choose from) it's time to get building.
How Big to Build It
It completely depends on the amount of space you have and how much space you want to take up. But always plan your strawberry gutter out on paper before you start building.
After we planted our strawberries, we decided to remove the bottom gutter as we were also growing tomatoes in the raised bed below and they are quite tall. The tomatoes grew really fast and started to take over a little bit, consider that if you are growing something under the strawberries.
Extra Tips
- Use a guttering with a deep profile.
- Make sure the timber you use is treated to protect against weather.
- Follow the builders' rule: Measure twice, cut once.
- Don't forget stop-ends for your guttering or the soil/compost will fall out.
- You can stain or varnish the timber, but make sure it is completely dry before planting anything.
Recipes Using Strawberries
If you've tried this strawberry guttering project then let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.
DIY Strawberry Gutter
Equipment
- Drill/driver or hand screwdriver
- Saw
- Tape measure
Materials
- 4 m Guttering any colour, deep profile
- 8 Gutter stop ends to suit
- 8 Gutter brackets to suit
- 3 m 140x22mm/6x1" timber treated, cut to two equal lengths
- 2.2 m 50x38mm/2x1.5" timber treated, cut to two equal lengths
- 24 50mm/2" exterior screws
Instructions
- Measure your space and using a hacksaw cut the gutter to the lengths you require (mine are 1 metre/39 inches long each).
- Using a drill, make drainage holes in the base, spaced about 15cm/6 inches apart. Put the stop ends on and the gutter is ready. At this point, the brackets can be fixed to a vertical surface if you have a suitable one available and the gutter clipped into them.
- For the frame, I used two lengths of 140x22mm/6x1" timber for the uprights and two lengths of 50x38mm/2x1.5" timber for the cross supports. I cut the uprights to 1500mm/59 inches each and the cross supports at 1100mm/43 inches each. For the uprights, measure where you want the brackets to be and screw them at equal distances apart. Do this for both uprights.
- Position the cross supports at the back of the uprights and screw into place to make the frame.
- Clip in the cutter lengths and the frame will be ready to be stood up. For extra support, I fixed the frame at the bottom of the uprights to a raised bed that we already had.
- The gutter can now be filled with compost (leave a small space below the rim for watering) and you can plant your strawberries. This type of growing gutter is also good for microgreens, pea shoots and herbs.
Notes
- Use a guttering with a deep profile.
- The frame is made from treated timber (it's important the timber is treated as it will be resistant to the weather). This also makes the whole gutter system portable, should it need to be relocated.
- Follow the builders' rule: Measure twice, cut once.
- Don't forget stop-ends for your guttering or the soil/compost will fall out.
- You can stain or varnish the timber, but make sure it is completely dry before planting anything.
Pauline says
Do you have any tips on how to keep the slugs away? We have tried growing things in the past and as soon as something comes through, the slugs eat it.
Dave Martin says
Slugs can be a nightmare! A band of adhesive copper tape (available from garden centres or online) stuck completely around where you're growing can stop them as they won't crawl over copper. If you can't do that, broken egg shells on the soil can help (too sharp for slugs to crawl over), or coffee granules sprinkled around the area as slugs don't like caffeine (so don't use decaf coffee). Good luck.
ian says
Encourage the skinks, geckos, anoles and frogs to hang about , they'll feast on the snails and slugs and discourage them .
Well that's my plan , in my (NSW) it's bluetongue skinks, water skinks , grass and tree frogs , dubia and velvet geckos in my garden , and the occasional bearded , water dragon and jacky dragon who I am counting on and encouraging to take up residence .
Lorna Kelber says
This is such a fun idea and I think my kids would get a kick out of it too. It might be a nice little summer project for us to do.
Dave Martin says
It is a fun and easy project that kids can definitely help with.
Manali@CookWithManali says
wow, how fun to grow your own strawberries! I am so bad at gardening! :(
Dave Martin says
This is really easy - I'm sure anyone can be successful with this
Helen Clark says
I've never seen vertical planters before, it's such a brilliant idea! There's nothing nicer than homegrown goodies, enjoy :)
Dave Martin says
It's so pleasing picking stuff that you've grown yourself
Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry says
I'm impressed with your strawberry guttering, looking forward to seeing your lovely strawberry recipes in the future.
Dave Martin says
Thank you - the strawberry recipes will be coming soon
Julie @ Running in a Skirt says
What a great idea! I don't grow strawberries, but this would be a great way to start. Going to show it to my DIYer tonight!
Dave Martin says
It is a really good way to get started with strawberry growing
Susanna says
There's very little that's better than a fresh strawberry.. Such a neat trick for space-saving!
Dave Martin says
We love fresh strawberries
Marianela says
This is a great way to grown your own strawberries when you have less space. Thanks for sharing such a great resource =)
Dave Martin says
Glad you found it helpful
Camilla says
Aren't you lucky having such a handy hubby, I'd love a unit like this:-)
Dave Martin says
Thanks! It's easy to make - you can do it yourself
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
What a great idea! I need to try this!
Dave Martin says
Let me know how it turns out
Fashion and Style Police says
Working on our garden at the moment so this post is very timely. Love the finished look.
Dave Martin says
I hope your garden turns out well
Rachel says
This looks just fantastic and it is so satisfying picking your own home grown strawberries x
Dave Martin says
Yes, it is very satisfying. They taste better knowing that you've grown them yourself!
Tandy | Lavender and Lime says
This is such a great idea. I've also seen hanging baskets for strawberries. I will have to start thinking about this for our garden
Dave Martin says
Hanging baskets work well, but you can get more plants in the guttering
Kelly says
I love this idea for growing strawberries! It's perfect if you have limited garden space! Such a great idea!
Dave Martin says
It is ideal for those with little space
Sarah Bailey says
What a great idea - I would love to have something like this in my garden I wonder if I could convince my other half to make some. x
Dave Martin says
It is really easy - I'm sure you could do it yourself