What to do next, now that I put a layer or pea gravel in my yard?

I guess you are thinking weed control Vinegar squirted out of windex bottle works. Weeds are easy to pull out as well.

you mow? If you have a mulching blade on your mower, keep the kids and the pets inside, as mulching blades are designed to suck up the loose freshly cut grass to rechop it into finer pieces. I'd imagine the pea gravel would get sucked up, too, and discharged. Not a good choice for basement windows or mower blades. I'd also imagine the pea gravel would chew up the blade in retaliation. You'll know your blade is dull and due for replacement when it leaves a shredded edge on the top of the grass that will turn brown a couple days after mowing.

Now please explain why you put pea gravel in the yard to begin with? To get rid of the grass? Did you put a layer of landscape plastic down first? If not, eventually, the pea gravel will get pushed down into the dirt and the grass will return.

Pea gravel will not have any affect on where water travels. Rain or sprinkler water always goes downhill. If there is a slope toward your neighbor's yard and you think water 'flash flood' the area, then use a border of some kind to direct the water where you want it to go.

i agree with Jan. Rocks do not absorb any significant amount of water( some rocks can & do absorb minute amounts, depending on weather & the composition of the rock). As Jan wrote, you’ll need to direct the water where you want it to go. Water naturally always will flow down, use that to your advantage.

you can always snap some pics of the area & repost. i hesitate to start listing solutions without seeing the area. There are so many knowledgeable , helpful people in this group😀 I’m sure someone will have suggestions if you did that.

The gravel won't absorb the rain, but it will allow it to seep through the ground. What you've essentially created is an open French well. Will the rain wander into your neighbor's yard? Probably not any more than the rain did before. If you live in a city, there may be ordinances against changing the natural flow of water. That's why you see big retention ponds around large buildings with even larger parking lots. If your neighbors mention the pea gravel, explain that it lets the rain flow just as it did before. You just don't have to walk on the mud because you've essentially created a loose sidewalk above the mud. Your only maintenance may be raking the stones back to where you want them and replenishing the stones, as they will tend to settle into the soft ground. My late grandfather used pea gravel for his sidewalk. He had a farm and said only citified ladies with delicate shoes needed a cement sidewalk. Every year he'd throw loose pea gravel where puddles would appear, but it was less expensive than a cement sidewalk. Smart as my grandpa, Judy! Now that's saying something!!