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Moss and weeds are a nightmare in my garden, particularly in the spaces between my patio slabs and paving blocks. With the wet winter weather we've just had and my paving being constantly shaded, it creates the perfect conditions for moss and weeds to spread and push up through the joints. Thankfully, the moss hasn't got to the point where it's covering the entire paving blocks, making it slippery, but it adds an unsightly look to my garden.

While I have found success using salt to kill weeds between the paving blocks, I do find that I have to use a lot of it and reapply it several times for the weed to properly die off. Also, with the salt method, once the weed has died, you need to go in and physically remove the pesky plant. However, recently I keep seeing a key gardening tool pop up on social media that gardening experts are using to remove weeds and moss from patios, and I wanted to give it a go for myself. The gardening device in question is the Ryobi 18V One+ Cordless Patio Cleaner with Wire Brush.

Retailing for £114.99, the Ryobi 18V One+ Cordless Patio Cleaner with Wire Brush is a cordless electric wire brush that spins around and cleans within gaps and grout lines.

The major selling point of this gardening tool is that it allows you to be able to clean out the gaps without bending and scraping, which takes so long.

Taking this patio cleaner out of the box, I loved that the majority was one piece; all I had to do was extend it to a comfortable length, attach a second handle and put in the battery.

Being height-adjustable is really important, as this allows you to stop bending over too much.

I would recommend putting the battery on charge straight away, as it won't have enough power to run for long on the charge it comes with.

I was using the 2.0AH battery, so the running time was one of the main downfalls of this product. I'd suggest getting the Ryobi patio cleaner that comes with a 4.0AH battery if you don't want the hassle of constantly charging it. However, that is priced slightly higher at £134.99.

I was worried it would be a little heavy for me to use, but it wasn't at all. The weight on the Ryobi website is 2.4kg without the battery and 2.83kg with it. So I had no issues at all.

With the battery charged, it was time to put it to start it up. The Ryobi patio cleaner has a comfortable handle to hold, with two trigger buttons. One on the top that needs to be pressed when starting it up. Then you can hold the trigger button down underneath to keep the patio cleaner spinning. I would have liked to be able to have it so you have the choice to lock it to keep it running rather than having to hold it continuously.

I was really impressed immediately with how well the patio cleaner kicked out the moss and small weeds from the gaps, but it did struggle a little with the bigger grassier weeds.

The patio cleaner wants to pull and work once it's grabbed onto the ground, so you need to guide it and control it. Then once in a little grove, it can easily be pushed along to remove the moss and weeds.

I found that the tool removed more of the moss and weeds when going backwards over the joints - some areas needed two or three passes. However, I was able to do the majority of my paving in 30 minutes.

One thing I noticed straight away that I found annoying is that the wire brush does cause slight scratches on the sides of the paving joints where it had removed years of dirt from the blocks. Reviews online said the same thing but noted that cleaning the paving removes the scratches.

While Ryobi does sell a Gentle Nylon Brush for this device, online viewers did claim that it does not work as well as the wire brush to clean paving joints.

Overall, given how quickly and how effortlessly I was able to remove moss and weeds from my paving joints, I'd say that this product is worth the £114.99 spend. Seeing the before and after, I now understand why so many gardening enthusiasts have been using this tool.

However, for those looking for a cheaper alternative, Robert Dyas sells a Draper Electric Patio Sweeper & Weed Remover that works in a similar way for just £49.99. Customers said that this tool is effective at removing moss, weeds, and debris from paved areas; however, some reported issues with the brush wearing out quickly or the tool lacking power for larger areas.

Alternatively, VonHaus sells a G-Series Cordless Electric Weed Remover that retails for £67.99, down from £79.99 currently. Customers noted that the product makes it much easier to keep block paving clear of weeds and moss, but they found that the fitting on the wheel appears slightly bigger than the corresponding part on the machine.