Do your landscaping plans include an install-it-yourself retaining wall that will run near the foundation of your new house?

The wall could sink. But you can prevent that by taking an extra step before you build the wall, says Todd Kroening, vice president of Custom Retaining Walls and Landscaping.

The shoring-up measure is necessary because the ground around the foundation of a new house hasn't settled yet. "Before house builders put in the foundation, they dig a trench two or three feet wider than the foundation, and when the foundation is in, they backfill the trench." That's fine for normal purposes. But not for retaining wall purposes.

To droop-proof your retaining wall, dig a furrow where the wall will go. The furrow should be 18 to 24 inches wide and 10 inches deeper than the bottom of the wall. Now put in a 1-inch layer of compacted fill (rocks) -- and build your unsinkable retaining wall.