Tried river rock once—looked great at first, but honestly, it was a pain to keep clean. Leaves and pine needles just love to settle in all those gaps, and pulling weeds out of rocks is way less fun than it sounds. DG’s not perfect either (dusty mess when it’s dry), but at least you can rake it smooth. As for embers, I’m not convinced the bigger rocks make much difference unless you’re super diligent about keeping them debris-free... which I’m not.
I hear you on the river rock hassle—been there, done that, still finding random weeds. Honestly, that’s why I keep circling back to green roofs. No raking, no rocks to clean, and they’re actually fire-resistant if you use the right plants. Plus, way better for runoff than DG or gravel. It’s not zero-maintenance, but at least you’re not picking pine needles out of crevices for hours...
“...they’re actually fire-resistant if you use the right plants. Plus, way better for runoff than DG or gravel. It’s not zero-maintenance, but at least you’re not picking pine needles out of crevices for hours...”
Green roofs are a solid idea, especially if you’re tired of the endless gravel shuffle. I’ve seen a few around here (Northern CA foothills) and they hold up surprisingly well, but there are a couple things to keep in mind if you’re thinking about going that route.
First, check your roof pitch—flat or low-slope works best, otherwise you’re fighting gravity and soil slides every winter. Second, waterproofing is non-negotiable. I’ve inspected a couple where folks skipped the heavy-duty membrane and paid for it with leaks after the first big rain. Not fun.
For fire resistance, stick with succulents or sedum—anything with fleshy leaves seems to shrug off embers better than grasses. But yeah, you’ll still get the odd weed or two. Nothing’s truly maintenance-free... except maybe a metal roof, but then you’re trading weeds for rain noise.
If you’re serious about runoff, green roofs are hard to beat. Just budget for the extra structural support—those things get heavy when wet. Learned that one the hard way on a retrofit job.
I tried the “fire-resistant” plant thing on a shed roof last year—sedum and some ice plant. It’s holding up, but man, the squirrels think it’s their personal salad bar. Agree about the weight, too. I didn’t realize how much water those things soak up until the first big storm. Had to reinforce with a couple extra joists after hearing some ominous creaks. Still beats sweeping gravel off the driveway every week, though. If you’re in a high-fire area, I’d take green over gravel any day, but yeah, nothing’s truly hands-off.
Had a client try a green roof with succulents a couple years back—looked great until the raccoons started digging for grubs. Between the wildlife and the extra weight after a rain, it turned into a bit of a circus. I hear you on the creaking joists... nothing like lying in bed wondering if your shed’s about to become a planter box on the ground. Still, I’d take a living roof over gravel too, especially with all the embers we get blowing around here. Maintenance is always the catch, though—no such thing as a set-it-and-forget-it roof, no matter what the brochures say.
