Gravel or landscaping rock - it generally boils down to one's idea of a good thing becoming someone else's nightmare. If they're fairly new, haven't settled in and buried themselves, I'd make an attempt at raking a section of them up since you'd like to do some gardening. The rocks are not likely to prevent weeds. Failing that, many things could be planted just by digging holes down past the rock - a sort of rock garden, a garden with rock mulch. For an experiment on the inexpensive side, the big box stores like Home depot, Lowes, Wal-mart generally have seasonal garden centers with all kinds of things you could use - Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry, kinnikinnick) is a nice ground creeper with pink-y flowers in early summer and red berries later. Juniperus horizontalis (Creeping juniper) is a good filler and can spill over edges. There are low growing sedums, phlox subulata, artemisia schmidtiana "Silver Mound", as well as other easy care/no care perennials... and there are always the annuals for instantly gratifying a need for space filling color. If truly temporary digs, I wouldn't make a big investment, but would at least give myself something pleasant to look at and be out in.

I don't think it is chinese lettuce based on the color and texture. I'm not sure how to post a closer-up image. Seems that I have to create a new post altogether.

For anyone reading this, I would like to say that even though it grows very fast, Albertine is a great pleasure. This rose has covered my shed twice and been cut back hard when we needed to try and save my apple tree from fireblight ( so far so good ). It bounced right back with big fat canes from the base that quickly grew 10 feet like Jack's Beanstalk. At first the little rose made slim long canes covered with hooky thorns that grab onto anything. We had to tie these slender ones up to a trellis and drape them over the top of the shed. Later came the big thick straight canes and more substantial flowering wood that formed a lovely canopy. This rose could be a lovely big freestanding haystack in later days but would need some support for the first 4 or 5 years. The spring display is so lovely and it will tolerate some shade. It also has gotten by on less water although I gave it plenty in the early years. Also this rose roots quite easily. I'm glad I took a chance to grow it. I think you can train it easily but the thorns are small and mighty so please take care and use eye protection and wear a shirt you don't care for. We planted a cutting ( it rooted itself in leaf debris on the shed roof ) at my best friend's house. He wanted something to guard his wall and go over the area next to the gate. From just a one gallon start this rose has covered a 7X10 trellis on a north facing wall where only fern would grow in under 2 years. It is all the thin long growth that we wind back and forth on the trellis and it has now started making good growth at the top of the wall in the sun. I expect the thick shoots from the base will come later this year but I am impressed how much growth this rose has made in the shade of that tall wall.

LOVE that garage door link! I forwarded it to my brother. One of his neighbors has a couple of dump trucks. I can just see the big yellow dump truck cross ways of his garage door. Man oh man, I also loved the Tuscan countryside. The only garage door I have is one of those spring loaded thingies, and we have it propped open permanently as shown in this picture: and from the other side: and then I apply my VIRTUAL PAINTER software and get: The two very heavy cypress louvered doors holding up the metal door, were salvaged from the front doors of our river house, which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Love this thread, Enigma. And I love your very low key treatment of the door. It goes right by folks if they are not paying attention. That is a good approach, and such a reasonable price too.