A Little About Plum Slate Chippings

Plum slate chippings have many qualities making it a great choice of aggregate for gardens & garden design.

The first real benefit of plum slate chippings is that the aggregates themselves are flat, making this an ideal surface for walking over. Slate & slate chippings by nature flake away into long flat sections giving the stone its distinct look & shape.

There is a slate quarry in Killaloe, Co. Tipperary where much of Ireland’s slate comes from. Slate of course is not only used in gardens, the stone is more commonly used to roof houses. This fact means that slate will sit very well in gardens and help to bring the home & garden together in a more unified fashion.

Some nice planting combinations for plum slate chippings would include both silver foliage plants & purple flowering plants

Silver foliage plants

  • Silver Sage
  • Lavender
  • Verbascum
  • Curry Plant
  • Rose Campion
  • Artemisia
  • Heuchera Sugar Frosting
  • Buddleja
  • Perovskia Atriplicifolia
  • Festuca Glauca
  • Santolina
  • Senecio Sunshine

Purple / Blue flowering plants

  • Lavender as mentioned above
  • Wieglia Purpurea
  • Alliums
  • Ceanthous
  • Hebe Autumn Glory

Other uses in the garden for this modern looking aggregate include the following…

  • Ideal as a mulch on flower beds – As a mulch this stone will help to retain moisture & control weed growth
  • Top of garden planters & flower pots – The purple hues in plum slate contrast very well with terracotta pots
  • Use in water features & dry river bed designs – Slate looks great both when dry & wet. The deep purples really come to life when wet. Add plum slate to the base of a water feature for best impact
  • Use in contrast with other modern stone materials – One such stone would be white granite as both slate & granite look great next to each other. Granite can be incorporated into your garden in the form of edging cobbles or capping stones on walls

Plum Slate Chippings Size & Coverage

  • Plum slate chippings are generally available in 25 – 40mm  & 40 – 70mm sizes
  • These angular slate chips will cover large areas
  • A bulk bag or 1m3 Bag will cover 4-6m2 at depth of 2 Inches