I had a neighbor that hated grass so much he covered his yard in white river rock about 4" deep and gave it a monthy Roundup treatment to abolish anything and everything green.  When he retired and sold his place the new owners just let it go.  Now 3 years later it is the most outstanding collection of native flowering vegitation and grasses you'll ever find.  It might be a rodent haven, but damn it looks good. 

These new folks put absolutely zero effort into it too, not even a single seed.  Nature did all the work, and that yard is showing up the dude across the street who thinks he's the head greenkeeper at Augusta.  He's also complaining to the HOA that they're growing weeds.  Fortunately the HOA isn't listening.