One of the drawbacks of gravel is that it can be displaced, embedded into the ground and even washed away, however, a good landscape designer will always ensure that there are countermeasures in place.
'In areas with high foot traffic or driveways, I specify a base layer of decomposed granite (d.g.) or gravel stabilizing grids to keep the gravel in place and eliminate the product from being compacted into the soil,' landscape designer Devon Brown tells me.