Do you know what a Loop Hoe is? It is a handy garden tool to use when you want to clean up a pea gravel path without chemicals. I found out about a Loop Hoe when I was learning about weeding from British Gardening books. It is an open strap of metal sharpened on both edges and mounted to a long wooden handle.
Here it is sitting beside the rake.
It took me a while to find one but it is well worth having when you are expecting company and have about 15 spare minutes before they arrive. Gravel paths are such a perfect growing medium for all sorts of seedlings especially the tenacious ones.
The Loop Hoe is so easy to use when a gravel path is about 1 & 1/2 inches thick of loose pea gravel on top of compacted heavier gravel. The Loop Hoe gets under the small weeds that are growing in the path. You just push and pull it though the pea gravel dislodging the weeds as you go. Then use a leaf rake to gather up up the weeds while the gravel passes through the tines of the rake. A tiny trick to not rake up the gravel with the weeds is: with each pull of the rake lift the rake in a quick motion and most of the gravel will fall back into place.
Once I have a pile of weed debris it is a swift walk across my driveway to the compost bin.
For the finishing touch I lightly pass the rake over the path giving it a smooth look.
Enjoy, get a little excersize and weed without chemicals with a Loop Hoe and your trusty Leaf Rake.
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