I lived in Atlanta for many years. Ivy is king of large scale evergreen groundcovers there. I had it in two yards... where the ivy portions were approx 1/4 acre each. I cannot say enough good about it and think that it is one of the best, most useful plants ever to come along. Used in the correct place and managed properly, it's a dream. Used in the wrong place or mismanaged, it's a nightmare. Also, you can't allow it to grow on a building structure so that's a consideration. Your small area is too small for ivy. Your larger area too small to borderline. (Not that you can't do it. Just that it will probably require more edging.) However, and there's not data on this so you'd have to experiment, I did see Ryan Gainey using florist type fancy-leaved ivy in small locations and getting away with it. It's diminutive and seems to be less aggressive. It was very good looking. But then, Ryan Gainey could make a dog turd look delicious. There are many variegated and curly-leaved ivies. (A person would want to use a matching variety throughout.) One more reason to like ivy is because it's basically free. It's so easy to root cuttings. (This is how I got my 2nd quarter acre of it!) Whether it was the heat and humidity I don't know, but early on while living in Atlanta I planted a slope behind my house (approx. 40' x 9' in medium shade) with Vinca minor. Even with good care, it languished and petered out. I replanted the whole area and got the same result again. The stems rotted at the crown so I believe the problem to be fungal. After two years of trying, I changed it to ivy and couldn't have been more satisfied with the results. Using a sharp flat spade (like a knife) ivy can be edged fairly quickly. I only had to hand trim (with hand pruners the 10' side where it abutted a building. About twice per summer so, I thought, much easier than cutting grass. If one gets lazy, the edge of ivy can be slowed greatly with Round-up. I you spray and then cut the following week, what grows back is much less vigorous. And this is true for all groundcovers, if one allows weeds to infest them, they will look like crap. Groundcovers must be maintained free of weeds. I've seen lots of English Ivy in my time and I've never seen it look ratty, except where weeds were allowed into it. But this is hardly the fault of the ivy. Ivy grows at uniform height and covers without bald spots. It takes sun or shade. However, in full sun, it will need additional nitrogen to insure that it doesn't develop a yellowish cast.

This looks just lke a sedum that grows in my rock garden, but I forget the name. Does it produce yellow blooms in early summer?

Hi gardengal48 and bossyvossy, and thank you both for speedy responses. I am not terribly optimistic that this is something I will want growing in my yard, but I am hoping against hope! After several years in this house, I finally gave up on the front part of our lawn, and as soon as the grass began to die down, we had some sedum pop up that looks great and is filling in really nicely. I had been pulling it not knowing what it was for six years and finally looked it up. So maybe there's a chance for this, too? At any rate, I pulled up a plant and tried to take a photo. First photo is this stuff growing in my brown yard. Second one is a closeup. My fingertip is in it for sizing perspective. Thanks again!

Euphorbia prostrata or maculata. An annual. If you do nothing, the existing plants will be killed over winter, but more will sprout next year. Stopping the cycle of letting new seeds drop will drastically reduce their numbers in future years. You can pour boiling water on your path to kill unwanted plants (including the roots if they get hot enough) but that may not render all of the existing seeds unable to sprout. Pulling what you have now, since the plants are so big, then treating with BW as needed should keep the path more clear. The cracks between the bricks are deep. That's allowing many seeds to become lodged in there. Filling/packing the cracks tightly again should help prevent many seeds from being able to get stuck there. There is rough sand sold just for this purpose.