The area where most people have grass/lawn I have rock mulch. Snakes do not like to be in exposed areas, it is great on erosion control, I like the way it looks and I never mow. Have not cranked my mower in two years. Most of my irises grow in beds with borders of brick, timbers or blocks but this year I have planted a row of noids in the stones. I am going to see how that works. Also, the leaf blower works much better when there is no grass for the leaves to catch onto. I ordered the river stones a ton at a time and spread them as I enlarged my no grow areas. The weeds and some grass do come up through the rocks but they are easy to see and pull. I think the layer of stones keep the soil surface as cool as grass would.
