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How-to: Maintain an Indoor Gutter Garden

June 4, 2013 4 Comments

How-to: Maintan an Indoor Gutter Garden

Visit How-to: Faux Copper Gutter Garden for instructions on making your own indoor gutter gardens step-by-step.

After receiving an email from a reader* asking for the finer points of building indoor gutter gardens (one of my most popular DIYs), I realized an update was in order. I first made my indoor gutter gardens over a year ago in an effort to add some green to the large upstairs bathroom in my 2-floor, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. *A big thank you goes out to reader Natalie for reaching out with her question!

One year on, I have a lot of tips for gutter garden maintenance, particularly in an indoor space that has a lot of humidity.

I recommend investing a little more time than I did in selecting the plants for your garden. I simply picked plants I enjoyed the look of at the hardware store.

  1. Don’t buy plants at the hardware store. If you want houseplants that will for sure last for more than a year, invest in plants that come from a reputable nursery or store. I get  most of my household plants a Chicago’s Fleur. They are always in excellent health and last a long time with proper care. Some of my hardware store plants came with some rot I hadn’t noticed when I bought them and died relatively quickly. Others up and died out of nowhere despite my giving them proper care. (I was so pissed!)
  2. Speaking of proper care, make sure to research the best care for your plants. If you’re buying potted plants at a reputable store, ask the staff. They should have some great tips for plant care. If you note the names of your plants, there’s always the internet or books to find help in too.
  3. Buy the right kind of plants for the environment. Plants from tropical regions have done better than plants that like a drier climate in my gutter garden. Because, duh, it’s in a bathroom.
  4. Remember to group plants requiring similar care together. Don’t plant a cactus in the same planter as a leafy tropical plant and expect the excess water to go over well. Remember – they’re sharing the same soil, and therefore, the same water.

Tend and feed your plants. I use a little bit of plant food diluted in water every couple months to keep my plants healthy. I also prune them as needed, removing dead leaves or length if they’re growing too big.

Use grow lights. While I have a skylight in my bathroom, I still live in Chicago. We have short days in winter, and a lot of cloudy days in general. Plants need light a certain amount of time every day to live. Invest in some simple work lights and plant light bulbs. Note: they’re not bulbs you plant in the ground to grow flowers in the spring. The hardware store folks will think that’s what you want if you need help finding them. You can see my lights in the first picture at the top of this post.

How-to: Maintan an Indoor Gutter Garden at HandsOccupied.com

images via here & here

Hate something you planted? Switch it out. I ended up removing some plants that I just got sick of looking at. The plants I had in the top right of my gutter gardens a year ago grew really unattractively, so I replaced them with something I liked better.

Plants getting too big? I mentioned pruning, remember to do that. It’s good for your plants. But if you’ve got a plant that can be divided, go for it. I had an obvious gap to fill in the second row of my garden after some hardware store varieties hit the dust. Rather than dropping money on a new plant, I simply moved an offshoot of the plant on the bottom row to the spot above. We’ll see how it grows!

How-to: Maintan an Indoor Gutter Garden at HandsOccupied.com

Drainage is something I get asked a lot about. In the original tutorial, I mentioned lining the bottom of each gutter with some pebbles for drainage. One thing I failed to mention (sorry) was how excess water drains from the gardens. The caps that are placed on each end of the gutter don’t form a watertight seal, so when drainage needs to happen, it just does. Yes, you might want to set some paper towel under your gutter garden before watering. I often water my plants and hold a cup under the endcap of the gutter and reuse any drainage.

How-to: Maintan an Indoor Gutter Garden

Reminder: Visit How-to: Faux Copper Gutter Garden for instructions on making your own indoor gutter gardens step-by-step.

Filed Under: Home Decor, How-to Tagged With: diy, gardening, gutter garden, house plants, maintenance

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Comments

  1. Erin

    July 25, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    Do you think something like this would survive through the winter, without the grow lights, if it were in a sunny area of the house?

    Reply
    • Heidi

      July 25, 2013 at 11:03 pm

      It really depends where you are – if you’re far north, the grow lights get pretty important in winter. I grew up in North Dakota where the days are very short in winter, so plants that need light half of the day were really only getting a few hours. Even in Chicago, I’ve found that grow lights can make a big difference. -Heidi

      Reply
      • Erin

        August 8, 2013 at 12:22 pm

        Thanks for the response :) I live in Alberta, Canada. It get’s dark usually around 5 in the winter but we do generally have lots of sun during the day. I guess I could give it a try without the lights and if they’re not doing so well, add some in.

        Reply
  2. Pauline Huang

    March 8, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    I have a bathroom with a high ceiling and a huge skylight. A lot of direct sunlight goes in there during the day. I’ve always thought that it’s like a greenhouse minus the green and plus a toilet, sink, and a bathtub.
    You just gave me a great idea on how to decorate those high walls!
    Now if only I could figure out a way to make watering and draining easier (if it’s difficult to do then nobody would do it and the plants would die).

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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How to to knit throwing (a.k.a. English) style . How to to knit throwing (a.k.a. English) style 
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In knitting, there are a few common knitting styles. Most often you’re going to encounter continental style and English (throwing) style on your knitting journey. I recently had an old video teaching continental style get a lot of views. Based on the comments, it was clear the people wanted to also see a throwing tutorial, so here you go! 🧶
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Please note that there is a LOT of variation in knitting styles, and one isn’t necessarily better than another. Most often, I’ve found it comes down to two things: how you were taught and whether or not you’re really into colorwork knitting (which can involve a mix of styles). 
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Longer-term knitters who’ve made it this far: do you prefer one over the other? And why? 
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#handsoccupied #englishknitting #learntoknit #knitting #howtoknit #knittersofinstagram #knitting_inspiration
How to do a one-step provisional knitting cast on How to do a one-step provisional knitting cast on / a.k.a. crochet provisional cast on, scrap yarn cast on
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I read recently that tiktok and Instagram are being used as search engines more and more. 🤔 I thought since I’m going to all the work of making tutorials on YouTube, I should experiment with making a quick version of them for other platforms. There are obvious teaching limitations to vertical video, short-form content like this, but I think I covered the gist of this cast on in a minute. The YouTube version also covers how to unzip this cast on because there was time for it 👍🏻 L1nk is in my profile. 
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I’m very much looking for feedback as I continue to make instructional knitting & craft videos. Sometimes good tutorials are hard to find, and (ideally polite) feedback helps me improve. 
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#handsoccupied #provisionalcaston #knitting #knititngtutorial #knittersofinstagram #crochethook #knittingtutorial
For the first time in a long time, there’s a new For the first time in a long time, there’s a new tutorial from Hands Occupied! 🎉 The video is live on YouTube & the blog. 
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The post covers what provisional cast ons are & how they differ, and the video covers how to work a one-step provisional cast on using scrap yarn and a crochet hook. (This is a great one to save for future reference.)
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I learned several names for this method while researching this video & post. Crochet provisional cast on, one-step cast on, scrap yarn cast on - if you know even more names for this technique, please share! 
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#handsoccupied #provisionalcaston #knitting #scrapyarn #crochethook
Working on a sample for some upcoming videos. It’s an overcast day with intermittent sunshine & I have a scruffy little sidecar. 🐶 Can’t complain! 
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What’s on your needles this week? 
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Yarn: @debbieblissknits Cashmerino Aran 
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#handsoccupied #knitting #knittinglife
Peg boards and craft room organization go together Peg boards and craft room organization go together like peanut butter and jelly. So, as you can see, do latch hook tools and screwdriver organizers! 🪛 
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I think this trick translates to any tool with a thick handle, so leather working tools, punch needles, print making tools, etc. should work! What other tools am I, a needlecrafter, blanking on right now? 
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#craftorganization #handsoccupied #latchhook #latchhooking
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