Downspouts that dump into the middle of your landscape beds are a real problem. They can flood the bed, hauling mulch out of it and drowning the plants inside. The problem can be solved with a few pieces of PVC and some digging. In this photo of our Garland landscape installation you’ll see what’s called a downspout adapter. Just like the name implies, these attach to the downspout and convert the rectangular shape of the pipe into the round shape of the 4″ PVC. I don’t use the corrugated black pipe because the ribs catch dirt and, since it’s flexible, it will follow the dips and valleys of your trench trapping leaves and dirt in the middle of the pipe. I prefer 4″ sewer and drain pipe (S&D pipe is a thin walled pipe just for drains) because it runs straight and doesn’t trap as much debris inside. At the other end, in the middle of the lawn, is a pop-up emitter. This has a plastic cap with a light spring on it. The force of the water from the roof causes the cap to pop up, letting the water flow out into the middle of the lawn instead of flooding the beds. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.
Village Green Lawn & Plant Health in Plano and surrounding areas. Local experience you can trust.
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