Please see the full listing section below for comprehensive specifications, benefits and uses for plum slate — as well as links to inspirational garden ideas and do-it-yourself guides.
Plum Slate Chippings
Price range: £118.00 through £194.00 inc. VAT
Plum slate chippings bring a sophisticated, modern elegance to your garden with their rich purple-grey tones that deepen beautifully when wet, creating striking contrast in any setting.
These flat, angular chippings are available in 20mm and 40mm sizes — the smaller grade offers a comfortable, stable walking surface, while the larger delivers a bolder, more dramatic look. Perfect for:
- sleek garden pathways
- smart planting borders
- contemporary water features
- stylish driveways and patios
The interlocking shape provides excellent weed suppression and superb drainage, making plum slate chippings a low-maintenance, eco-conscious alternative to other mulch. A natural choice for creating a clean, striking outdoor space that stays looking fresh year-round.
Gravel Calculator
| Weight | N/A |
|---|---|
| Size | 20mm, 40mm |
| Weight | 20 x 20kg Mini Bags, 40 x 20kg Mini Bags, 850kg Bulk Bag |
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Specifications, Inspirational Ideas & DIY Guides
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Specifications, Why Professionals & Homeowners Choose, Applications, Inspirational Ideas, DIY Guides, Maintenance, Purchasing Tips, FAQs, Related Products
Overview
In over 15 years of using decorative aggregates through British gardens and commercial sites, I've come to rely on plum slate chippings for their unique qualities and subtle purple hues that deepen when wet - turning from soft plum tones to rich, glossy purples that add instant life under dull skies. Outdoor Aggregate's Welsh plum slate chippings come in versatile sizes making them ideal for paths, light driveways, borders, and mulch alternatives. Whether you're a homeowner refreshing your space or a landscaper like me tackling a commercial project, I'll walk you through our product specifications and all you need to know below to help you pick the perfect fit before purchasing.
Specifications
Why Professionals & Homeowners Choose Plum Slate Chippings
Plum slate chippings transform ordinary spaces with their natural purple tones that pop when wet, while delivering excellent drainage, weed suppression, and a resilient mulch option that perform exceptionally through winters. From dozens jobs, here are the real standout results about slate chippings:
- Paths: 20mm plum slate is the size for a path, although the smooth faces get slick when wet, so slopes and permanently shaded, never-drying runs are better served by a crushed angular gravel.
- Weed-free borders: A membrane underneath keeps perennial weeds from pushing up through the surface, so maintenance stays to the odd pull of a wind-blown seedling.
- Mulch for planting beds: As a mulch, plum slate holds moisture in the soil around plants and gives borders a clean, deep-purple finish that holds its colour season after season.
- Aesthetic boost for modern designs: 40mm plum slate chippings make a bold, chunky border or ground-cover feature, its scale and colour standing out well against paler paving or planting.
To give you a real feel for the transformation, here are some past examples from past installations:
Applications
Plum slate excels thanks to their flat shape that locks together for stability, and the purple hues that complement greens, silvers, and bold flowers without overpowering. Here's where they shine best, with size tips based on past installs:
- Paths & Borders: 20mm plum slate gives a crisp, walkable surface that packs down firm and holds its edges well.
- Mulch & Planting Areas: Plum slate mulch lies flat and neat around shrubs, holding soil moisture in the soil beneath it.
- Water Features: 20-40mm plum slate suits pond and water feature edging, rinsed first to clear quarry dust.
- Rockeries: 40mm plum slate sits well among larger rocks and planting, its scale and deep colour holding their own against stone and foliage on level or gently sloping ground.
- Ground Cover: 40mm plum slate makes a bold, low-maintenance cover for open beds and borders where nothing is walked on.
Inspirational Ideas
I sell slate chippings and I’d still rather you didn’t put them on your driveway.
Ben Parrot
The right size, the proper base, and the one thing about wet slate the supplier guides skip.
Ben Parrot
Slate garden ideas that are low maintenance and easy to install from across the UK.
Ben Parrot
DIY Guides
Thin gravel on a firm base over deep gravel always. How I build one that looks new after ten years.
Ben Parrot
People worry that real slate will poison their pond, but sharp edges and the wrong placement will cause more grief!
Ben Parrot
Choose the right size, prep the ground once, and your slate will behave itself for years.
Ben Parrot
Maintenance
How you handle weeds depends on the setup: on a decorative bed, lay it straight onto the soil before after removing all weeds and roots and then rake lightly every few months to redistribute. On a paving area or driveway, a heavy duty membrane goes over the compacted sub-base instead. For deep cleaning, particularly where algae discolours the chippings, check our guide on how to clean chippings for step-by-step tips.
Purchasing Tips
Quarry batches can vary slightly in the different shades, so it’s best to be prepared for some natural variation. Try to get what you need in the one load. Measure your area in square metres and the use our gravel calculator to get an accurate order.
If you would rather talk your plum slate chippings order through with a person, ring Outdoor Aggregates on 0330 043 7585. The office is open 7am to 7pm, seven days a week.
FAQs
Is Welsh plum slate the same as purple slate chippings?
Plum slate and purple slate chippings are the same product, sold under both names depending on the supplier. The colour runs from a deep heathery purple to a warmer plum, and it deepens considerably once wet.
What's the best size of plum slate for a driveway?
Plum slate at 20mm is the grade to use on a driveway, since drives want stone in the 10 to 20mm range and 40mm slate is a border and ground-cover material only. At 40mm the flat plates tip and slide rather than bedding down, and slate's smooth faces get slippery in the wet, so a sloping drive is better served by a crushed angular gravel.
Can 20mm plum slate be used as mulch?
Plum slate works well as a decorative mulch at 20mm, lying flat against itself to cover ground neatly and slow moisture loss from the soil. It contributes nothing back to the soil the way bark or compost does, and weeds still seed into the surface debris, so lay it over a membrane and expect to pull the occasional annual.
How does plum slate change when wet?
Plum slate deepens to a glossy, saturated purple when wet, one of the more dramatic colour shifts of any decorative stone. The same wet surface is slick to walk on, which is worth remembering on a path or any sloping run.
Are plum slate chippings suitable for slopes?
Plum slate is a poor choice on a slope, because the smooth cleavage faces that make it pack so well are slick once wet. Level ground and open positions are fine; for a gradient or a permanently shaded run that never dries out, a crushed angular gravel or a self-binding gravel is the safer surface.
What's the difference between 20mm and 40mm plum slate chippings?
Plum slate at 20mm is the grade for paths, drives and anywhere that gets walked on, packing into a firm, even surface at roughly 4 to 5cm deep. The 40mm grade is for borders and ground cover only, where nothing traffics it, since the larger plates tip and slide underfoot.
-
Plum Slate Chippings
Price range: £118.00 through £194.00 inc. VAT -
Green Slate Chippings
Price range: £132.00 through £192.00 inc. VAT -
Grey Slate Chippings
Price range: £106.00 through £172.00 inc. VAT -
Blue Slate Chippings
Price range: £120.00 through £177.00 inc. VAT
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