Fitting guttering and installing water butts to your greenhouse to catch the rain is a great way to store this precious natural resource. Keeping crops going through the summer requires plenty of water, so it pays to have a good supply close by.
Discover more essential kit for your greenhouse, and our test of the best electric screwdrivers, to make the job easier.
Greenhouse manufacturers often sell tailor-made gutter kits for their own products, and many greenhouses come with guttering supplied. If you are fitting out an existing greenhouse and know the name of the manufacturer, contact them first to see if they can supply a kit before heading for the DIY store.
Guttering is fairly cheap to buy from any DIY store and you can cut it to length with a saw. You’ll find a variety of brackets and connectors available too, so take the measurements of your greenhouse with you when you go to buy your guttering to ensure you get the right pieces.
Screw the brackets into the frame of the greenhouse to hold the gutter in place, with an end stop at one end and a downpipe on the other feeding water into the butt.
If you have a metal-framed greenhouse, you can still affix guttering. Instead of screwing directly into the wood, most will have pre-drilled holes allowing guttering to be attached, or you can drill your own on. If it already has in-built guttering, you just need to attach a downpipe to channel the water into a water butt.
You Will Need
- Lengths of guttering
- Downpipe
- Guttering brackets
- Joining brackets
- End stop
- Saw
- Screws
- Screwdriver
- Chicken wire
Total time:
Step 1
Check your measurements and cut lengths of gutter to fit neatly along each side of your greenhouse.
Step 2
Attach brackets at regular intervals along the frame, positioning each one slightly lower towards the downpipe to make the water flow.
Step 3
Carefully slot the guttering into the brackets. For a snug fit, join lengths of guttering together using linking brackets with watertight rubber seals.
Step 4
Pour water into the gutter to test that it runs smoothly towards the downpipe and there are no leaks.
Step 5
Fit the downpipe into the butt and put a wad of chicken wire into the top to stop leaves falling in.
Watering seedlings
Don’t use rainwater to water your seedlings – it may cause damping off disease. It’s better to use tap water.
