Toilet training in the garden

[peachybee]

Hoping for some advice please!
I'm the (very novice) gardener in our house, we moved in almost 2 years ago while I was pregnant so the 1st summer was a write off as I was too pregnant to do any work to it, and the 2nd summer I had a barely crawling baby so just kept to the patio.

This year I want to make the garden a nice place to play for the toddler but for the whole time we've lived here we've let our cat have the whole run of it and he basically shits all over it.
I thought cats always found themselves a special little spot but from watching him out there the whole garden is essentially his toilet.

We have an escape proof garden so he doesn't have a huge area to roam and I don't want to make him a fully indoor cat, has anyone found a way to train their cat to use a particular area outside and stick to it?

Thank you!

Can you start by putting a litter tray in the garden and put a bit of poo in it so cat recognises their smell. Does cat not bury his poo, it's unusual to leave it uncovered unless to mark his territory, is he neutered,

Dig a flower before and put plants in it. He'll take it over as his litter tray.

You can get outdoor litter trays.