The cost of bark has sky-rocketed lately due to the high demand and short supply. And, with lumber mills shutting down or scaling back due to the slumping economy, the situation only promises to get worse. That’s the bad news.....
~ HARDSCAPE & LANDSCAPE ~
Articles, Photos & Information
Landscape Ideas
&
Landscape Solutions
from Blue Slate, Inc.
WoodStone's a brand new all natural, beautiful and PERMANENT groundcover that won't fade, blow away, burn or deteriorate... Once installed properly, WoodStone NEVER NEEDS TO BE REPLACED and it only
looks better with time and exposure to the elements... It retains water as well as bark and has
excellent ground coverage! Keep your borders beautiful permanently and.....
SAVE TIME.....WORK.....AND MONEY!!!
WoodStone
.....the ultimate groundcover solution!.....
Creating a beautiful landscape can be a challenge and expensive..... Right?
It doesn't have to be!
Of course, if you have a grand, gorgeous and outlandish landscape design in mind and you plan to hire an architect to design it and have it installed.....it can be expensive. That's for sure.
.....ARE YOU TIRED OF REPLACING BARK EACH SPRING?.....
Only to have to do it all over again season after season..... year after year?
Are you tired of all the work, time and money it takes to keep your
borders looking great year after year?
Is your bark faded? Is it boring? Does it need to be replaced?
If you've answered 'yes' to any (or all) of these questions,
we've got THE PERMANENT SOLUTION for you!
Do you have trees in the yard that grass won't grow well under? Or areas where your pets have dug holes? Or, worse yet, areas that they've chosen as their favorite spot to, well....wee?
Or, how about that shaded spot where the grass just doesn't grow at all? The area of the lawn that looks so bad that it totally detracts from the rest of your otherwise nice looking, maybe even beautiful, landscape?
WELCOME
Thank you for visiting our website! Our website highlights our Eagle Mtn Slate products and our exciting new WoodStone groundcover product line. But.....
Homeowners, landscapers & other retail customers interested in purchasing our natural stone products, please click here for locations, maps & contact information for the local retail distributor in your area!
Airway Heights, Washington
Sunrise Trucking & Contracting
Otis Orchards, Washington
COUNTRY BARK, INC.
Deer Park, Washington
Newport, Washington
Lewiston, Idaho/Clarkston, WA
CLARK & SONS, INC.
Spokane, Washington
WASANKARI CONSTRUCTION
Moscow, Idaho
In Hayden, Idaho visit:

Products: Eagle Mtn Slate products, WoodStone Groundcover,

Blue Heron Cloumn products
In Post Falls, Idaho visit:

Products: Eagle Mtn Slate products, WoodStone Groundcover
In Otis Orchards, Washington visit:

Products: WoodStone Groundcover
In Airway Heights, Washington visit:

Products: Eagle Mtn Slate products, WoodStone Groundcover
In Spokane, Washington visit:

Products: WoodStone Groundcover
In Deer Park, Washington visit:

Products: WoodStone Groundcover
In Spirit Lake, Idaho visit:

Products: Eagle Mtn. Slate products, WoodStone Groundcover
In Sandpoint, Idaho visit:

Products: WoodStone Groundcover
In Moscow, Idaho visit:

Products: Eagle Mtn Slate products, WoodStone Groundcover
In Lewiston, Idaho/Clarkston, WA visit:

BLUE SLATE, INC. ~ click here

Products: Eagle Mtn Slate products, WoodStone Groundcover
In Walla Walla, WA visit:

Products: WoodStone Groundcover







Our natural stone products can be purchased from the following
quality independent retail distributors:
SPRING HAS SPRUNG & IT'S TIME TO REPLACE BARK..... AGAIN!
.....or not!
Many homeowners, businesses, stores, govern-ment and public agencies face a very common dilemma every spring (and often in the fall again) when it comes time to replace the faded, worn-out bark in their borders, flowerbeds and in their landscapes in general.
We all know that replacing bark can take quite a bit of time, a whole lot of hard work (especially if you do it yourself to stay within budget) and it’s increasingly expense to purchase.
Why? Because bark supplies are dwindling fast.
CREATING A BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE ON A BUDGET!
However, there are a number of ways to create a beautiful landscape that may rival the best of 'em, even on a budget, if you're willing to get a little creative, do a little research and to invest a little sweat equity of your own!
Creating a beautiful landscape involves creativity and, often times, some really hard work.
HOW TO DEAL WITH PROBLEM AREAS IN THE LANDSCAPE.....
once and for all!
To make a long story short, when we moved to Priest River, Idaho we were no longer close enough to spend very much time at the cabin anymore. Not even holidays or weekends. It's an eight hour trip one-way..... without potty breaks!
So we decided to re-create the setting from the cabin..... in our backyard at home! It really didn't take that much (easy for me to say, my husband installed it) but ..... more
INSTALLING A SLATE FIREPIT..... for relaxation & entertainment!
Over the years, we've always spent a lot of time in the mountains with family and friends. In fact, one of our favorite get-aways was a cabin in the backcountry of North Central Idaho at Dixie.
There, we had a horseshoe pit and a rock firepit where we spent tons of hours playing horseshoes and visiting our friends and family around the campfire. That is, when we weren't off fishing, hunting or on a Poker Run on our fourwheelers. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun!
It really didn't take all that much (easy for me to say, my husband installed it) but WOW did it make a HUGE difference! It got us back outside again..... enjoying the great outdoors more than ever!
HOW TO SAND-SET A GORGEOUS FLAGSTONE PATIO!
Shortly after we (Okay, Jesse..... but I helped a little bit. Somebody had to rake and clean up!) finished the horseshoe pit and firepit (pictured above) we decided (since we already had some flagstone and sand left-over from our firepit project sitting around the yard anyway) that we really needed a flagstone patio just off of the dining room and kitchen.
Originally we had planned to build a deck out there..... plus we already had a glass french door for access from the dining room and kitchen..... out to the great outdoors. All that was missing was an area to entertain family and friends and to have barbecue's! It was also the perfect location for a patio because it overlooked the beautiful Pend Oreille River. Plus, that's the way we went out to the firepit to relax in the evenings anyway. Logical....right?!
Well, that's kind of a summary of the "justifications" that I used to convince Jesse that he should spend his spare time (in the middle of our busy season) installing a slate patio (after splitting rock all day) instead of just hiring someone to build a deck where he wouldn't have to lift a hand. I also threw in there that it'd sure be a nice place to kick back and drink a few..... more



So, if you're looking for a few fresh, new ideas or a solution to a landscape problem that you might have, please take a look around and have fun exploring our site!
For those who may be wondering who we are and where we are:
Blue Slate, Inc. is a small family owned and operated Decorative Stone wholesale company located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. We specialize in producing beautiful and versatile all natural decorative stone products, mainly from northeastern Washington State near Newport, Washington.
We supply our premier natural stone products quarry-direct to wholesale customers such as retail sales yards, landscape supply centers & stores, and to nurseries throughout the Pacific Northwest who then distribute them to homeowners, contracters and other retail customers. Locally, we have distributors in the Spokane, Washington/Coeur d Alene, Idaho area, as well as in the Lewiston, Idaho/Clarkston, Washington area.
To find local distributors who sell our natural stone products, please click here.
At Blue Slate we strive to produce the highest quality natural stone products possible and offer them to our customers at reasonable and affordable prices. High quality, unique natural stone products and customer satisfaction are top priorities for us.
And, speaking of our customers, we'd like to thank all of our customers. They're a fantastic group to work with. We truly appreciate them and we highly recommend them for all of your landscape needs!


Landscape Problems & Solutions:
The main purpose of our website is to focus on some common landscape problems and to provide a few solutions. Here you'll find landscape articles, tons of photos, examples and even some creative landscape ideas..... especially for the homeowner or the Do-It-Yourselfer!
LET'S GO GOLF..... speaking of relaxation & entertainment!
Occasionally, when we have the time, we head out to the Ranch Club in Priest River, Idaho on a sunny weekend afternoon for a little family outing golfing. Much more often, though, we head out there because they have the best darn Prime Rib around! Dennis and the crew at the Ranch Club are a lot of fun, too, and ALL of the food is great.
A few years ago, while we were there to golf, we talked Dennis into trying out our new WoodStone groundcover. We were just starting to produce WoodStone at the time and we actually didn't have it on the market just yet.
Anyway, we were looking for a few projects, in high visibility locations, around the area to do as a promotion for WoodStone. It just so happened that the bark bordering the entrance to the Ranch Club was a year or two old and it needed to be replaced!
Long story short, for a few hours of work, we got to golf for free that year and ate like kings! Thanks Dennis!
Cascading Creations
Web Site Ad:
2"-3" WOOD STONE
HOLY CRAP THIS STUFF IS AWESOME......SAME COLOR AS
BARK....LOOKS THE SAME AS BARK.....NEVER FADES LIKE
BARK....NEVER BARK AGAIN.....WE ARE THE EXCLUSIVE
SUPPLIER OF WOOD STONE FOR WEST SPOKANE.....
"This is by far our hottest product.....imagine never having to replace your bark again.... use this over existing bark. It is a
shale product which retains water as well as bark.....
ALL WE CAN SAY IS WOW!!!!!"
Monte Tareski
Cascading Creations
Airway Heights, Washington
You know..... the area of the lawn that just looks shabby no matter how much you work on it and baby it?
Well, there are a number of solutions that will solve your problem permanently! Some of which are very inexpensive, that is, if you're resourceful.....
Mouse over for before
and after views
Mouse over for before
and after views
"Our customers love the WoodStone groundcover! It looks like bark but
only better. It does not blow away or deteriorate. You can use
it on hillsides and it only gets more colorful with age!"
Doug & Melony Wasankari
Wasankari Construction
Moscow, Idaho
Wasankari Construction
P.O. Box 8867
Moscow, Idaho 83843
208-883-4362
DRESS UP YOUR ENTRANCE WITH COLUMNS & A SAND-SET
FLAGSTONE WALKWAY !
for an attractive natural look.....
One of our first projects when we installed the landscape at our home in Priest River, Idaho was to add a small deck, a sand-set flagstone walkway with basalt columns on each side of the entranceway and a dry-stack retaining wall to border our front lawn. We wanted to dress up our entranceway a bit but keep the look natural.
We were starting from scratch because this was new construction. So the first thing we did before starting the project was to map out where we wanted everything to be when we completed the project. Jesse measured distances, etc., and then sketched our design out to scale on graph paper.
The next part of the project involved bringing in fill dirt and top soil to raise the level of the lawn in that area. After we packed that down and let it settle properly, Jesse started building the dry-stack retaining wall.
He marked the locations where the columns were supposed to go and then installed them as he was building the dry-stack retaining wall. He used two large slabs for the steps inbetween the columns and two large slabs for the steps up to the deck, after we finished building it and skirting it with cedar....... more
Blue Slate, Inc.
132 Airway Drive
Dixie, Idaho 83525
Office: 509-671-2606 Fax: 208-842-2206 Quarry: 509-671-2605
TABLE OF CONTENTS.....continued
If you have questions or comments or would like more information, please fill out and submit the request form at right.
WoodStone groundcover products are sold to retail companies at wholesale prices in bulk quantities, delivered quarry-direct from Blue Slate, Inc.
For wholesale pricing, orders must be for a minimum of 12 yards.
HOW TO USE SHRUBS, AS WELL AS, ANNUALS AND PERRENIALS
IN A STONE GROUNDCOVER BORDER OR FLOWERBED !
tips for low-maintenance color in your borders.....
Stone groundcovers, of course, can be easily installed around existing shrubs and flowers. And shrubs and flowers can also be planted into borders or flowerbeds that already have groundcover in place.
Taking the time and making the effort to eliminate them from the beginning can pay you back several times over later on by reducing the need to pull weeds and grasses in your borders, seriously reducing the work involved to maintain your borders and flowerbeds over time. This is the first key ingredient to low-maintenance..... more
barrier underneath your stone groundcover, such as in borders. This is important because established weed and grass roots always seem to find their way to the sunshine and they will start growing in even the tiniest spaces along the edge of your border or close to your shrubs where you've left an area for water to access the shrub's roots.
"I can honestly say that 2" WoodStone groundcover is our best selling aggregate with a selection of over 40 aggregate products.
WoodStone is just a totally unique groundcover product!
It can't be found anywhere else."
Zach Marjamaa
International TumbleStone
Hayden, Idaho
When we created the borders around our yard, we prepared them for planting from the beginning by making sure that the topsoil that we were using was nutrient rich, as well as weed and grass root free.
Taking the time upfront to make sure that you're using quality topsoil, free of grass and weed roots, is time well spent even when you will be using a weed
If you’re willing and able to do some, most or all of the work yourself, though, you’ll definitely save considerably on what labor would cost if you were to hire the work done for you......
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