There's no easy solution to this I'm afraid - unless the previous owners put a membrane down beneath the slate - if they did, find the edges and ease the membrane off complete with chippings. Otherwise its rake them off and pick off the rest by hand. Welcome to GoY, fellow slate hater - I loathe it on gardens, looks far too depressing, specially on a dull, wet winter's day, and it is messy...

Welcome to GoY from me too. The only way as Bamboo says, is to rake them, then pick them off by hand. I too, think they look terrible.

I don't like them either--that makes 3 of us already! Not a quick job to get rid of them, but the rake sounds good. You can dig in any left on the soil, and then mulch with some bark to cover it all up, after putting weed control down, but it's all a bit fiddly. Best of luck! Annie

Good for you - hard work but it will look a lot better without them - stick with it. Surprising how much you can achieve with a rake - a stiff back for starters!

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!
I had already started using a rake and my hands of course!, however i think i was hoping with some small chance that there would be an easier way. Nevermind, it will make the end result a lot better. Wish i had come to this site earlier so that i could a made a start on it a bit earlier in the summer when the weather was warmer. Ireally appreciate your help. I am a begginer to gardening ( so to speak), so i'm sure i'll be back on later. Thank you again!!! x x x x

You can use a soil sieve

I'm not a lover of them either...but you could use some for drainage in pots...a heck of a lot of pots though !

If you have a lot you could save them, wash them, bag them up and sell them on to somebody who likes them!