Is there a simple way to divide the rain from a gutter into two equal directions

I have a shed roof (one edge for a gutter) and two big planters that would like to share that water.  I know getting water to divide itself in half is a bit tricky but I have two ideas and I'm fishing around for other options to consider.

One is to physically divide the gutter into two half gutters (each collecting from half of the roof), each with a downspout to one of the planters.  This is most straightforward but I think it would be ugly since both planters are on one side of the building.

The second is to make a custom end for the gutter that has two exit holes.  The holes would be matching triangles with a narrow point downward.  That way as the water backs up in the gutter it's level rises and both of the triangular holes accept more water, somewhat evenly.  Then each flow can go to a planter.

Oh, just thought of a third...  Normal gutter, normal downspout for all the flow.  Then invent a back and forth flapper that the falling water will flip left, then right and divide the flow.  This is least likely to work...

Bonus points for artistry and creativity since this is for a community garden :)

My inclination would be to downspout the water into a barrel or something and run hoses to each planter. The designs you're talking about aren't going to be super-precise at dividing the water, so putting a valve on each hose that you can tune over time seems like it would get you into the same ballpark with not much work.

Christopher forgive me if we speak about the same thing. My neighbor connected all his 200 liter barrels by filled up and installed hoses.  He siad he filled them hoses up and held the ends and put them under water before letting go. If there are no bubbles in the way you have literally made it one barrel.

You can connect multiple vessels with a siphon like that, but Mike wants to distribute water to the planters where it will leave the system and make sure both of them get about the same amount of water rather than all of it going to one. A siphon-equalizing system like that would work on a small scale if they were bottom-watering planters at close to the same elevation.

Oh, or maybe you mean something like this: put a bucket above each planter at exactly the same height, fill them with water, connect them with a siphon, and then you can downspout the water into either bucket and it should pour out of both of them at the same rate (if the siphon allows travel at the same speed as the downspout).

I was trying to avoid a tank and just let it water heavily when it rains and manually when it doesn't.  

If we didn't have a walk way between the planters, having two buckets connected with a big pipe, and have small drainage holes to water the planter, would do the trick nicely.

My "creative" triangular holes in the gutter would incidentally use the gutter as the rainwater collection tank until/unless it overflows.

Having a tank would be a nice way to show people how to do their own rainwater harvesting though...

Hi,   One gutter,  slope downwards on both ends highest point in the middle.  Put a chain downspout on each end, looks nicer than "normal" downspout.  

That would work, except both planters are on the same end of the gutter...

With two planters separated by a walkway, it seems you would have to have two downspouts one way or another. How long is the roof edge/gutter, and how long are each of the planters? The double-sloped gutter would accomplish the dividing, and one gutter could run sideways under the eave before dropping to the second planter.

I would be concerned about the triangular holes getting blocked with leaves, and a gutter that does not drain freely accumulating leaves - unless there are no leaves to worry about.

I’d think to back it up somehow. I could imagine some sort of vessel to hold the water (small) that has two equal sized  holes in it. The holes or outflows would, together, put out somewhat less than what you would get in a rain event of substance, so that in the storm it fills up but quickly drains out afterward.

If you can make them both bottom watering systems, not from the top, a solution can be reached

Hello Mike, were you able to take a ground level pipe , maybe pex, across the walkway.  I hope the bottom watering might work for you.

I think a more novel approach is needed;
- build new shed to water the plant on the other side of the path
- move the planters to a more suitable spot
- create a syphon under the path to water the remote plant
- fit a tank and use a submersible pump

Since I got my new phone, it's hard to get photos to permies. The two planters are the base for a trellis archway that folks walk through to go down a path.  They are also (I now realize) located at a corner of the building that's the high side of the roof.  So the water would have to move about 10' along the side of the shed before it could water the planters.

Thanks for all your input, it gives me plenty of approaches.  We just have to decide how/if to go about it and how visible of a demonstration we want it to be for garden visitors.  I could run the water through the inside of the shed to more easily get near the planters but it wouldn't make it a "demonstration" for visitors

How about if the exit hole of the gutter could get smaller & smaller until it can be hose diameter, and you could put a Y hose connector, and have 2 hoses, one to each planter? Or have the water go into a traditional rain barrel via a gutter downspout, then the barrel has the Y connector and hoses, and you just leave the valves open all the time, but you could use it to demonstrate a rain barrel anyway, and possibly shut it off from watering the planters in case of too much rain, or whatever reason might come up. Each side of the Y connector usually has its own little shut off valve, so the option of shutting one or both is always within reach if needed. Maybe a rain barrel that's not technically being "used" is overkill, but it leaves options open for the future and could be educational and give a traditional, attractive feel to the garden.