Help! How do I fix erosion issue? (furnace, Air Conditioner, drain)

[cstleddy]

I need your opinions about what I should do.

My side yard slopes downhill from the driveway to beyond the crawl space door at the back (North/South). The yard also has a highpoint in the center and slopes toward our house and toward our neighbors yard (East/West). I have two problems from this...(1) After 10 years, there's some erosion at the two corners of the driveway at the top of the slope and (2) during heavy rains the dirt/rocks near the furnace/air conditioner wash downhill - thus contributing to the erosion at the top of the hill.
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What do you think about having two small retaining walls installed? One at the top of the hill, just left of the vent, and backfill with dirt up to the level of the driveway and the other just right of the crawlspace door.

What do you think about putting in a heavier rock all along the side of the house (1 to 1.5 inch diameter??) to hold down the earth, allow water to drain and allow access to the sewer and irrigation outlets?

What materials should I use and what color would look nice against the brick.

Or, do you have any other suggestions?

[evilnewbie]

Put some more soil and add eco-lawn? They have longer roots and might survive better as well as hold the dirt in place... but I am no expert...

[Threerun]

Hmm-
Do a step down set of retaining walls, each backfilled and pitched sloping away from the house. You can use the smaller, solid red landscape blocks for the wall. Put the block on a crushed, tamped gravel footer, and have drain tile (perforated pipe) placed on the INSIDE of the build, also on a bed of gravel, have the pipe run down hill, following the natural slope, underground and terminated somewhere out of site.