Slate roofs can last about 100 years. But even so, a lot of people would rather tear them off and replace them with asphalt shingles that only last about 20 years. Why? Because they don't want to pay for the occasional repair on their slate roof. They aren't saving money and to my eye their house looks the worse for it--but hey, to each his own.
Adding environmental insult to aesthetic injury, most of these slate shingles end up in municipal landfill. A truly sad end when you think of the labor that went into quarrying the slate, shaping it and installing it.
With an eye for beautifying gardens and a feel for what it took to shape these stones, I've salvaged a fair share of intact slate roofing shingles and have put them to use in various gardens for edging beds, like this one below, which I installed about 10 years ago.
They are sturdy and handsome, natural and salvaged. A perfect look for a liberated garden.
Here's a larger view of the entire garden bed, originally created about 20 years earlier for a single Japanese maple tree.
(I was brought in on this job because the maple was suffering from singed leaves and dying limbs. If you want to learn what the Liberated Gardener did to remedy this situation, check my blog tomorrow for that story. )
Installing the roofing slate as an edging is a very low tech activity.
I used a square-point shovel (a spade or edger would do also) to create a vertical slit right slap next to the original brick edging--or concrete walkway--about 6-8" deep. The slates are only about a 1/4" thick, so I then lined up a slate on its side in line with the slit and pushed it down a bit into the opening by hand. Then I used a mallet (a dead-blow hammer would work too) to tap it in as deep as necessary so the exposed height would be about 4 inches or so; high enough to hold a 2-3" layer of mulch in place.
I then set the next slate into the slit, while butting its end up against the first slate. Tapped it down till the top was level with the first one and then installed the third one. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Generally roofing slates are about 10" across. So if you can create a slit at least 6" deep with the shovel, you'll be okay.
If the slates are wider than you can push down into the soil, decide how much you want to remove, stack a few of them, mark the top one and cut through them all with an old circular saw and a new masonry blade.
I say an old circular saw, because the dust from cutting stone will get into the saw and eat the bearings until it quits working. But once you've bought a masonry blade (better yet a longer-lasting industrial diamond blade for about $20) and you see how easy it is to cut stone--and brick--you'll probably want to dedicate that saw to these kind of projects. (And set up a fan to blow the dust away from you.)
And once you've installed your lovely, salvaged edging--so much prettier and longer lasting than any of the plastic crap made from fossil fuels, and cheaper than steel edging, which rusts and looks neglected--you can plant some candytuft or oregano to gently grow over the edging for that relaxed cottage garden look.
And then relax yourself in a shady chair with a view of your permanent slate-edged bed.