Last year, I tried an experiment.
Around the top rails in my deck, I installed plastic rain gutters on
the outside, filled them with potting soil and grew herbs, small
veggies -- lettuce, mini-maters, etc -- and little clumps of colorful
annuals. It worked out nicely and was decorative, convenient and
productive. The downside was it needed to be watered almost
continuously, as the "bed" had.......well, the cross-section of a rain
gutter. If I was away for more than two or three dry days, the beds
got really DRY.
This year, I plan to do two things: 1)Expand the deck, itself, and 2)
Expand the gutter-beds onto the lower rails and (maybe) the outer
edges of the deck itself (it is raised from three to five ft. off the
ground).

It all hinges on whether I can figger out some auto watering scheme.
I am looking at drip, with lines installed at the bottom of the
gutters, rather than resting on the surface, working off a timer.

Some questions:
1. Anybody done anything similar?
2. Any forums / newsgroups focused on this idea? (Info places are
nice, but I need to "communicate")
3. Is there such a thing as a itty-bitty soaker hose -- that will
interact with the small drip lines.

My first thought was small PVC pipe at the bottom of the gutters,
connected to multiple outlet manifold, in turn connected to timer; but
then had a forehead-slapping moment that said: "They already do that
-- drip".

Thanx in advance for any help you can give.

cheers

oz, glorying in new double cataract removal and implants, resulting in
"uncorrected" 20/20 vision