There Are Lots of Alternatives to the Traditional Green Lawn. By Linda Greider One alternative to grass is to combine plantings with areas of pea stone or crushed gravel. No to the mowing, the trimming, the watering, the chemical soakings.
Some gardeners feel they have to have a lawn for the kids or the dogs or because it looks pretty.
But unless you have a lot of lawn, the kids usually play ball somewhere else, like the driveway, and the dogs probably lie in the flower beds. All are interspersed with flagstone walkways and patios. Hardscape is expensive unless you do it yourself. In its place could go areas of crushed gravel. Because its irregular edges tend to make it knit together, crushed gravel migrates less than its rounder cousin, pea stone.