I used pea gravel in some beds in Texas and and in Indiana. It collected more debris in Indiana (because there were a lot of mature trees where I lived in Indiana compared to Texas) but I thought both were easy to pull weeds out of. I used round up occasionally, but I mostly pulled weeds if needed. I also had good success with using preen in my pea gravel mulched beds.

With out landscape fabric your rocks will sink into the dirt and disappear. Over time dust/dirt collects and that is where weeds can grow. Did you ever try mulch then Preen over that? Mulch is the least labor intensive in the long run...but it appears you are edging with brick--so match that.

I went with ground cover plants! Use Preen and very minimal weeds.