# Using my gutters as an irrigation system for landscape beds?



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Here's a horrible drawing of what I'm talking about, the arrows show the two downspouts that I want to basically feed into that red horizontal line across the back of the landscape bed, so that all the water hitting my roof will go directly to my landscape bed. My only real idea on how to do this now woudl be to use an extra downspout piece to connect the two, and put holes in it so the water can get out evenly through the bed.

Any tips or suggestions on products that achieve this w/o looking horrible (like my proposed idea would) would be greatly appreciated!


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## cibula11 (Jan 6, 2007)

I think that would work. Actually they might have some black drain pipe that has holes already in it. If you get actual downspouts you'll pay more than if you get the plastic drain pipes. 

There are also drain pipes that have mesh netting around the outside. They are used at the bottom of retaining walls.


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

awesome! I'll check them out at my next HD trip. And I'll update this thread with a link to the finished pics in teh 'project showcase' section once I've got them done!


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## skymaster (Jun 6, 2007)

Joey; they make a product just for that is is a self rolling plastic that is perforated and rolls out during rainstorm from the water pressure then rolls back up when dry just switch the elbow direction to your plants and attach this to the spout.


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## HiFi (Jul 27, 2007)

U can actually use a small tank near the bottom to store the surplus and then put in an outlet at the bottom o the tank and fit in a 90 degree elbow to the end and fill the bed.


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## Dusty (Aug 9, 2006)

Maybe you don't have this concern where you live, but here, that would be a very bad idea as it could cause flooding of the foundation/basement if you had a big downpour (since the whole point of gutters and spouts is to get water away from the house as I understand it). If it isn't an issue, then yes, those plastic extensions are simple and work really well and you could just rig it so it goes on your beds.

An alternative is to get some form of rain barrel you can collect the water from the spouts in (must be covered with wire grate or something so kids and animals can't get in). Then you could use it as needed, where needed.


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Thanks a ton for the tips guys! I'll show you how it came out once I get it up and going, but that'll be at least a week or two because I'm doing the lawn and other projects currently.


It's okay if it hits next to the house (as far as I know anyways) as it's a concrete block house with no basement (i'm in FL, like 5 minutes from the beach; they seem to build them to withstand water well).


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