Improving a small yard area

[SunnyUpNorth]

Has anyone got any good ideas for quickly and cheaply improving a small backyard? It’s the usual concrete (I think!) ground.

im going to jet wash it and see how it comes up. I was looking at the decking tiles that places like ikea and Aldi do but I imagine the ground needs to be perfectly level for that and I’m not sure it is.

Ideally I’d love to tile it with nice large slabs but I’m not quite sure of the labour costs for this.

Has anyone done anything similar?

Post up a picture OP.

I’m more inclined to say don’t bother with the decking, I’d embrace the concrete somehow, perhaps if you’re looking to use the space for sitting out in them you could always get an outdoor rug to break up the greyness.

An outdoor rug is a good idea. It’s just to make it more welcoming and nice. Do outdoor rugs not go a bit gross and mossy?

Pic

It would be a big job to get all that concrete up and slab it. I’d clean it up and paint the walls.
Once its clean it will look better. Then add pots, you can get so many interesting colours now. Troughs with integrated trellis so you can have some climbing plants might look good against the walls

I was hoping it could be tiled over! But you’re right it would likely move etc.

ill clean it, try a nice rug, a table and chairs, some garden accessories.
Its for a Ukrainian family we are sponsoring but I’m prioritising the inside of the house but want to try and make the outside at least usable and clean.

Could you afford gravel? Are there any suppliers nearby? I had yellowish gravel once in my city garden and it was lovely!

paint the walls a lovely colour, some gorgeous pots and an outdoor rug are really good ideas for that space.

I have horrid concrete tiles outside the front of my house and am thinking of jetwashing them and then painting then like some of these… the patio transformations are amazing. Lots of work though but the results are stunning.
www.royaldesignstudio.com/blogs/stencil-ideas/diy-backyard-decor

I would leave the concrete and use a rug as others have suggested.
Warm terracotta walls look really good with greenery and it will feel much more welcoming with some comfy garden seating/a table out there.
String some festoon lights out for a bit of added cheer and some large planters with evergreen shrubs, is there space for some raised planters (made from pallets?) so they could grow herbs/veg if they wanted?
If there are kids you could leave chalk for hopscotch and add even a hammock?

I’d give it a good jet wash and buy some cheap pots and plant them with nice coloured bedding plants it will look fine .

I think some big pots with geraniums or similar to add colour, and some furniture for sitting out. Easy care stuff that can be left out in all weathers. And perhaps a big umbrella for shade, if it gets a lot of sun.

The concrete looks to be in good condition, and it’s pretty level too, so just pressure washing would make it look a lot better.
Our back yard is basically about 20’ square (so similar size by the looks) plus side return, and used to have multiple different levels and surfaces. We had it dug up and paved last year, plus a proper stone wall built to replace the nasty concrete slab fence at the end, and it cost over £5k…
You could make your space lovely with some paint and containers and furniture without spending much at all 🙂

Some big bright trough style planters along the wall with bedding plants in, or use sleepers to block off a bedding area and fill with coloured gravel then put pot plants on that. Last year we bought white gravel and then a few bags of bright pink, blue and purple pot topper gravel which we mixed in with the cheaper white stuff. Used that to fill a small bedding area.

We have awful clay soil in our garden so nothing that we plant ever seems to grow, we now use big bright plant pots instead, have loads of them. B&Q do huge plastic ones at reasonable prices in pink, purple, lime green... Asda and Wilko do ceramic pots with fun designs and have a lovely range of metal trough planter in primary colours in at the moment.

Thanks all, will def start with a jet wash and some basics.

@DailyMaui that link is very similar to dizzy duck designs. Make it look so easy! It is effective but bet it would take ages to do.