In reply to David (in Normandy) )
who wrote this in , I, Marvo, say :

"John Kelly" wrote in message
news:l-
the gravel seemed to be a cat-litter tray for John Kelly

Gravel can look good when done properly with a membrane underneath it
and appropriate plants set through it.
It is also important not to have it too deep either for two reasons:
1) It is like wading through snow.
2) As you commented - You make the neighbourhoods largest cat litter
tray!

One way to combat this would be to make it out of quicksand instead of
gravel :-)