Use Non-Combustible Materials
Retaining walls can disrupt airflow, creating wind “eddies” that may help keep embers away from your house. Use masonry, gravel, or stone walls to separate plant groups and add variety and improve the fire resistance of your landscape.
Another way to break up fuel continuity is to use decorative rock, gravel and stepping stone pathways, cement driveways and walkways, and retaining walls as your landscape’s less flammable “hardscape.”
Replace bare, weedy, or unsightly patches near your home with ground cover, rock gardens, vegetable gardens, and fire-resistant mulches.