My personal experience with gravel (or similar rock stuff): DH was inspired to use some of the "rock ballast" that you see along railroad tracks - he worked for the RR for 39 years and this was near the end of that time - for several areas around our house... although it seemed like a fairly reasonable idea at the time, we are now removing it bit by bit. Not the only mistake we've made with the landscaping efforts over the years, for sure.
(If the lawnmower didn't throw it somewhere where it shouldn't be, the snowblower did.)
