Landscape:Pea gravel surround decking?

[marthas_ear]

I am not letting a little crack in the fiberglass stop with my landscaping plan!
Will post pictures soon of my recent project.
I laid limestone flagstone that came from the excavation area, used decomposed granite for bedding and "mortar"...
added some pea gravel on top of landscape cloth next to the flagstone area, too. Starting small. Maybe 6 ft sq area on slightly slope access to pool.
Since we spread some topsoil around that turns into mud, that attracts muddy dog feet, which leaves prints on the new decking...I am moving forward ...
What to do?
Pool has 3-4 ft concrete decking around the pool. The concrete is painted with acrylic lacing. I want to keep muddy paw prints off it.
What I want to do is lay down weed cloth 2 ft out from the concrete and put some sort of rock mulch that is easy to walk on.
I am worried about too much pea gravel as it is rounded and I understand it moves abit, gets kicked up by mowers and might end up in pool. Any suggestions as inexpensive alternative to pea gravel? or has pea gravel shown to be okay near in ground pools?
After the 1-2 ft rock mulch, we will lay buffalo grass turf out another 10 ft around pool with some planting areas defined by more limestone. This is all DIY with rocks from our 5 acres.
The main question I have, what is inexpensive rock cover or "mulch" to border pool area with that will drain water, stay put, not get in pool and be comfortable to walk on.
Decomposed granite alone, without flagstone, isn't a good idea since that turns to mud in rain. (I hope it rains again where I live)
Do you have pictures you can share?

 

[amjohn]

I am in north Texas. We got 1" native washed rock (also called river rock). It comes from the red river area. It is like large pea gravel, so it is round and comfortable to walk in. It also packs down into sand and clay and forms a solid base if you just use a single layer, and then can add another layer on top of it to keep down dirt. It started our pretty dusty, but after the spring rains, there is very little dust or dirt in it, and water filters down through it. The rock itself varies in colors, but the overall effect is tan. I reused existing pavers for the actual walking paths inside of it, and it is working great. It does not move around unless you get a lot of rain, and you will not pick it up on your feet, wet or otherwise.
We "oulined" it in 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch by 6 inch pavestones, set into place with the native clay. Below is the walkway from our rock driveway (gray rock) to the pool. We liked it so much we did the same thing for a patio area around the house, though I still need to set those edging pavers- they are just laying on the grass.

 

[marthas_ear]

Thanks for the picture.
Here is what I started. I do see how the pea gravel keeps moving around and getting kicked up on flagstones...unlike the decomposed granite that settled in the cracks.