Discover how slate chippings and decorative pebbles can create a beautiful and low-maintenance garden.
Fashions come and go in the world of garden design. The craze for decking and paved patio areas has created a renewed interest in using the garden as an additional room for dining, relaxing and even entertaining, so anything which makes the work of garden maintenance easier is to be welcomed. Nowadays most of us would prefer to spend our valuable free time enjoying the benefits of our gardens rather than endlessly weeding. It is possible to gain this extra time by using low maintenance products such as slate chippings or decorative pebbles.
Using coloured slate chippings for pathways, drives and patio areas adds texture and interest to your planting scheme. The flat pieces of stone are surprisingly comfortable and resilient underfoot and make a welcome change from the ubiquitous gravel and paving slabs which we are so used to seeing.
All gardeners understand the importance of providing a good mulch in order to enable border plants and shrubs to thrive. Encompassing a range of products, including bark, compost and artificial products, a surface mulch helps to preserve moisture within the soil whilst deterring predators. Slate does not provide any nutritional benefit to the soil, but is a fantastic deterrent to slugs and snails, not to mention dogs and cats prone to digging in gardens.
Where soil requires the addition of fertilisers, these should be dug into the soil before covering the area with a weed-proof membrane. Then simply add a layer of beautiful and decorative slate chippings in the colour and size of your choice and sit back to admire your garden. Weeds are unable to thrive amongst the slate, making garden maintenance a breeze.