What should we do with our back yard?

[Dysgu]

We have a small courtyard garden - well, just a back yard really but we want to turn it into more of a usable space.

At the moment it is concreted and there are 3 broken concrete steps leading from the back of the house to the ground level of the yard. We have a huge shed in the space at the moment which came with the house but is really not needed - but it would be useful to have a small storage unit type thing to store what would ultimately be 4 bikes and probably a step ladder!

Size - it is roughly 3 metres across and about 5.5 metres long.

We just want an outside space that e could actually use. We have 2 daughters - currently 17 months and 3.9 years, and would like to have a safe place for them to play whilst they are young. We live in the south of the country - very close to beaches and lots of parks so the size of the garden is not an issue for enabling the girls to run around, we just want to maybe be able to sit and eat out, put down a small paddling pool, read etc.

We are open to all ideas - budget variable depending on what we opt to do.

To keep the floor space as large as possible for the children to play, use wall hung planters ( this sort of thing) and maybe plants on the top of the walls trailing down.

For plants in pots on the ground put some in tall old terracotta chimney pots to vary the heights and re-use things as planters (eg. we've used things like an old cast-iron pot-bellied barbeque and old galvanised bucket).

Bamboo (in pots) can create some tall greenery

You can also use mirrors to give added depth and interest.

x-post noddy, thanks!

I forgot to say re: flooring...

...decking IME can get very, very slippy when wet although I think you can now buy special non-slip decking or products to prevent it.

There are some nice 'block' paving blocks out there. They are more expensive than the characterless modern ones but they look good (and don't take long to get rid of that stark new look IYSWIM).

Gosh - so many more new ideas. I think I am going to have to have a more serious think about what it is that we want.

We did buy the house with a long term view to staying here - there is lots of space inside, just not outside.

I think I will get that book - sorry, I copied the name and then have forgotten it (!) and might browse the magazines too.

Thank you everyone!