Forgive me if I'm telling you things you already know, but I'll mention it for others, if not for you. Erosion is caused by two things - volume and speed.Anything you can do to reduce either one reduces erosion. The lawn is good because it has a lot of blades that the water has to go around which slows it down and also allows the soil to absorb some (both reducing speed and volume). Also, slope translates to speed. Longer slopes translate into increasing speed. Anything you can do to disperse water rather than concentrating it is reducing volume. Sometimes we combine drainage so that we deal with it in fewer places. But sometimes it is not a good idea because you create a big problem instead of several smaller and easier to deal with problems. Since you mentioned that the path is a convenient way to divert water, it makes me think that it is intercepting water that might be moving across the lawn and concentrating it (making a bigger volume) more or less in a channel that is the path. If it goes downhill on a steady slope, water will build up speed and erode. Interupting the slope with a step every once in a while will flatten the grades between the steps, thus slowing down the water. If the path has a cross slope, the step can divert the water off of the path at that point removing it from joining up with the water that the path is accepting between that and the next step. You may have seen this technique on hiking trails just using logs. Even if the water has to pass over the step, it will be reaching the edge of the step with very little speed. although dropping over the edged of a step will add speed to the water, it has ery little time to accelerate and lands on another slow slope. It never builds momentum. Another good technique is to privide better drainage closer to the source. It seems that you hinted that the driveway may be the biggest source of runoff. I will assume that the water is not channeled in a paved swale that concentrates it, but rather drifts off onto the lawn all along its path. In that case, a narrow deep trench filled with larger stone can hold some volume and provide side and bottom area for the soil to absorb some of it. I would not continue such a trench where the driveway slopes a lot as water would rush along the trench. A retention swale that holds volume and traps it untill the soil absorbs it is an option, but most people don't like to have a puddle or wet area. Some have the space for it and don't mind. Another thing is a detention swale that captures the volume and holds it temporarily by having it drain out in a limited manner such as making the swale drain out of a small pipe that can only handle so much water. It detains the water only to let it go on its way in a controlled release. Compaction of your stone in the path is not really much of a problem for water erosion. Smaller surface stone will wash with less force than larger surface stone. Stone in swales is often refered to as "energy dissipation" material where it takes the force of fast concentrated water coming off of a pavement or from a pipe. It takes the impact and slows the water down in the initial portion of the swale. The slope of the swale will then take over in managing the speed of the water and the stone is no longer necessary. Hopefully, this will give you some insight to help you analyze what is happening on your site and some different ideas on what might be options for your specific situations.

Kimmsr says it best. If you have to choose something, or choose nothing, your best choice is probably a short, stubby legume that does not propagate too well. White clover. My garden is sloppy madness, and stuff just grows. On my paths, well, it tends to be clover and grass, but lettuces get their chance here and there.On my terraced beds, things kind of spill over into the lower terraces, and I guess I would rather it be clover than dandelions, pigweed, comfrey, etc. In wider areas of my garden, white clover stays very well behaved. In some areas of the garden, I also use old planking. Oddly enough, it provides more nooks and crannies for weeds to take hold... and small animals. If I wanted weed-free coverage of all my paths, white clover would be my seed of choice. Or strawberries on the margins and dirt/mulch down the middle?

Carol,and others. The woodland path is south of my house. It originally was a jungle of weeds and everything else that grows in natural woods. There was an old set of steps made of railroad ties,but they were not level,and had moss on them,which made for slippery traveling down the hill! I ripped them out,and buit my first made from scratch steps from pressure-treated lumber. There was a seemingly natural path already there,so I just got mulch and laid it right on the Vinca minor that was already growing there. The Vinca minor is,as far as I can tell,a wild form,but it may have been planted by the former owners. It is all over the area. This was 2003,my first serious year of hosta gardening. I planted a Francee hosta in there,and that was the start of it. Some places in those woods are even too shady to grow hostas,but there are native Trilliums,ferns,and false Solomon's Seal growing there,and also some Jack-in-the-Pulpit. We're talking woods here! A small creek at the bottom of the hill,and I would love to clear out the jungle around it,but it's a lot of work,and I ain't getting any younger! It's been so dry lately,that it barely trickles there,but when we get ample rain it really is peaceful,listening to the water running downhill. Did I mention that I live on the side of a small mountain? Sorry this was so long,but you asked! Lol! Phil

Laura theres some pics of my original kw girls and roo on that link. I also put some pics of some crele roos I was working on later in the post. Thanks Writersblock. I am flgardengirl on that forum. I hardly post there any more but I used to quite a bit. I love the KW roos. Some are a little skittish but none have ever been mean. Many are very colorful and remind me of sunsets. The keywests may not be an official breed but they do seem to have an overall body type. They are smaller than most standard breeds but not as small as bantams or silkies. I have bantam chocolate orpingtons and silkies and the key west hens are larger than those breeds hens but smaller than say my Marans or standard sized Orpington hens etc. There is quite a color range in the keywests. I have heard that there was a mostly white keywest flock near a graveyard there because they have evolved to blend in with the headstones and have evaded predators that way. Fyi...Key West hens LOVE those huge palmetto bugs if I see one when I'm gardening etc., I call the girls and they will rip them to shreds! Awesome for me because I have a phobia of those things lol.