Thinking of scotch or irish moss? - Not good for raking over I'm afraid. You'd need plants that grow tight and are not easily uprooted. I can think of ajuga, but their leaves can be damaged by a rake; creeping speedwell, pretty but not really good for raking over; finally creeping thyme which can I think withstand some light raking.

I am planning to do the same thing but I doubt that the leaves can be removed with a rake without doing serious damage to the plants. An leaf blower should work though.

I have a corner city lot - I planted Purpleleaf Wintercreeper as a ground cover on an area alongside the sidewalk which is under the canopy of a nearby maple on the streetside. I planted this groundcover about seven years or so ago - you can rake it but I find that using the leafblower with the mulching attachment works best for getting the leaves that get trapped in the groundcover.

I also have sedum as a ground cover in other areas amongst flower beds - but I find as far as raking you have to be more gentle - so as not to uproot the plants. The leaf blower with mulching attachment does work very well though. The sedum looks very pretty in late spring when it flowers.

I hope this is helpful,

Regards,
Fragrant

Leafblower would blow pebbles everywhere.......

Suzi

Use dwarf Mondo grass- Ophiopogon, not Liriope. It grows slowly, stays short, and will handle light foot traffic. Liriope tends to run too much for this application.

I used Creeping Thyme next to a narrow walkway, and it works great. Also looks pretty when it blooms.
Red Thyme also works, and looks great when it blooms.

If you want something that's easy to rake, grass is the best groundcover. Also, if you install pebbles in areas where you have a lot of leaf fall (and leaf debris) you will eventually get a lot of organic matter in your gravel and grow weeds.

What are you trying to accomplish with alternating squares of pebbles and groundcover?

thanks everyone. after some serious thought, i've decided that i really need a non-evergreen but perennial groundcover. that way, i can leave the raking until the plant has gone dormant for the winter.

i'm not crazy about leaf bloweres - noisy and not environmentally friendly.