Gravel mulch!
I utilize large rocks in my garden, of course, but the smaller stones are just as valuable, in my thinking. I wished I had a good close-up image of my latest rock garden to show you, although some of the xeric garden images in my Webshots garden album shows a whole range of rock sizes.
The gravel mulch lessens the need for watering, keeps the plants that need sharp drainage dry around the base, and adds texture to the bare winter ground. It also gives me a showcase to show off some of the prettier small stones I've collected over the years.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Gardens and More

Your place in incredible. You must spend many, many hours in your gardens. Thanks for sharing. If you do use gravel for mulch what do you do when you want to add to the bed? Just move them out of the way, plant, they move back?

Maeflower,
Yes, one downfall to gravel mulch is that it is easy to mess up. I periodically remove leaves and stuff that blow in and collect around larger rocks and underneath plants to keep it from making new 'soil'.

When you want to plant, scoop back your rocks and set to one side, and use a pot or something like a tarp to collect the 'diggings' and keep the area clean. When you've planted, watered and settled your new plant, remove the leftover soil, then replace the rocks/gravel.

And, yes, I do spend lots of time on my gardens! ;-) I would rather pull weeds and mix compost than to do just about anything else--except to play with my fish!! I have been trying to make it easier and less time consuming overall by making the broad gravel walkways and using bark mulch and installing drip/micro sprinkler systems, since our summers are so darned hot and dry.

Now if the @#$% chickens would just quit digging everything up!!!