Best tool for weeding gravel

[Wonderfulcheapfalafel]

Can anyone recommend a particular rake or other tool for weeding in gravel? In process of creating a gravel garden, and do want some self seeding to happen but I know ultimately I will be doing a lot of weeding!

I use an old trowel to slide under plants. I would look for a short handled hoe - something like this might do - so you could use it sitting down and not miss any seedlings you’d like to keep - gravel is a wonderful seed bed, mine is full of lavender seedlings and baby cyclamen

Hello Wonderfulcheapfalafel,

Us gardeners and horticulturists are I think 🤔 are a resourceful bunch and it’s so much fun to press into service something you already have kicking around. I use a small old pointing trowel and an old screwdriver 🪛
However If you fancy treating yourself to a new tool MereDintofPandiculation’s idea of a hoe is a good one. Finding new plants 🪴 and seedlings 🌱 in a gravel area is so satisfying and sustainable. Pot up and give away to friends, family and neighbours.

Happy gardening 👩‍🌾

What size gravel do you have? And is it on top of weed suppressant fabric?

I chose gravel big enough not to fall through a garden sieve, with the idea that one day (not yet materialised...) I could rinse the gravel and clean off the accumulated soil/dust from the stones and weed suppressant fabric. Unsurprisingly I haven't done that yet - so far I've made do with hand weeding and occasionally moving the gravel with the back of a rake to expose the fabric underneath and remove the accumulated soil. Then move the gravel back again.

Thank you so much for the advice @thesustainablegardener and @MereDintofPandiculation !

Thanks @zzplea . Haven't got to the gravel installation bit yet, had a bit of work to do first changing thing s around. Not planning on any fabric underneath as want to encourage some self seeding, I will also choose gravel that's not too small as don't want it to resemble a cat litter tray too closely! Can't decide it I want to use gravelly gravel, or the Cotswold buff type... I'm nowhere near the Cotswolds but it does look nice !

Hori hori knives are brilliant

👍🧑‍🌾

I used to admire the pictures of York Gate with its neat conifers surrounded by pebbles. Then we visited, and Mrs Spencer described how every year she lifted all the pebbles, gave them and the membrane beneath a good wash, and put them back again. I rapidly changed my plans. I notice the bed in question doesn't feature in google images, so I wonder if that's a bit of the garden that has been re-designed by Perennial, who took it over on her death.

My gravel maintenance so far has been confined to replenishing with an extra tonne of gravel after 20 years. We'll soon be coming up to 20 years again, and I might give it another dose.

Without treatment, you develop a layer of soil between membrane and gravel, so the seeding properties of the two become similar. In which case, there's little point in the membrane. If you do keep clearing the soil, then presumably the membrane works, but the point of the membrane is lessen work not increase it!

Membrane, mypex or landscape fabric whatever you like to call it certainly makes you think 🤔 about what materials etc you use in the garden. I recently took up some that had been down nearly 25 years and it had started to shred at the edges but it still remained completely in tact and maintained its strength which makes you think how to deal with it without it and the strands getting in to the wider environment.

It’s best to let debris that gets into any type of gravel work its way in to the soil.

Yes, I totally agree.

Membrane is attractive for someone who is planning to move house in five years or so, it will do its job of slowing weed growth for the first few years, and it's then for the next owner to deal with the problems as the soil builds up and as it begins to degrade. A bit like plastic grass in that respect.

Funnily enough@MereDintofPandiculation I've actually just removed our previous owners plastic grass! Hence the new look!

The front garden is also gravel with a membrane underneath and it's a right pain. Looks awful wherever it shows through and actually makes it harder to remove the weeds. The previous owners certainly passed their problems onto us!

Yeah, they grow through the membrane and don't pull through it!

Just to piggy back on this incase anyone else finds it but P.D.V. salt like the one linked below is really good if you make a brine (water and salt combined) you can spray in over the weeds without adding nasty chemicals. it takes 5-7 days for the weed to try out then you can just pull it out of the ground.

https://www.thesaltshop.co.uk/products/pdv-salt-pure-dried-vacuum-25kg-bag