Do you have any ideas of what you would like to see? Raised flower bed, patio, shrubbery, etc? Will you be doing the work yourself?

I am open to all ideas. I want something easy to maintain. I will have to hire someone to do the work.

I forgot to add - I live in Southeast Pennylsvania and the weather can be below zero to 100 degreees.

Is the yard facing south, north, west or east

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@ blenheimnewzealand ...those 2 "small yard" ideas are adorable! Just enough to it to be interesting & not too much to be overwhelming to carol0512!

my yard gets morning sun, more afternoon sun, mostly south facing.

I really love the second small garden with the raised planters. I have a large raised planter in my yard and it's so easy to care for.

I have a similar yard (a little smaller) and zone. I highly recommend high quality artificial turf for the low maintenance. The only negative is it can get hot in summer. I would do the turf with raised beds. I did my yard with boxwood, autumn clematis, natchez crape myrtle, Montana daises, Russian sage, and blue pansies as an example. All of those plants are low maintenance and long flowering. I would add a place to sit, swing or eat. Maybe even a bird fountain or small water feature. I have posted pics of my yard to give you an idea.

The photos above were taken right after many plants were installed. Will look much better in a few years.

I never thought of artifical turf. How you you lay it, where would I find it? Your yard looks great. Thanks

I like others comments. Just want to mention that garden snakes are good for your garden (eat pests) and pose no harm to you. Best to leave them be.

I would definitely pave a path down the center, perhaps widening it here and there so you don't have a 70-ft-long straight line. Add a bench--maybe in a spot that gets sun in the winter, so you can sit outside on a sunny day--and, if you like, a fountain. Ask a garden center about easy-care perennials that will attract bees and butterflies, and use a low-growing ground cover in place of grass. That might help with the snakes, too.

Carol0512, Thank you! I used http://www.synlawn.com but many companies make turf. Lowes in my area carries it. I found mine by searching the internet for artificial turf installation. It is really great for small spaces. It is installed like patio pavers with leveling then a crushed gravel and sand base. If you have difficulty walking it gives you a more level surface to walk on. I just saw your yard is 70 ft long! Not sure how I missed that. You can do so much with that! I wish I had that much space. You could do espalier fruit trees against the fence. With a yard that long I would create different rooms. Think of all the ways in which you would like to use your yard and then divide the space into rooms. The English are great at this. I did tons of searches on the Internet Google.co.uk small London garden design ideas. If you click on images at the top of the page you will get tons of ideas. Most are modern in design but with a few tweets you can make them any style you like. Also don't worry if money is an issue. Just try and figure out what needs to be done first and do a little bit at a time.

Oh and I really recommend getting auto drip irrigation installed. It is so worth while! You will never have to water again!

The also carry turf at Home Depot.

Some of the suggestions here are beautiful. It makes me want to work on my yard this summer! What kind of snakes? They are most likely harmless but here is a resource if you need help getting rid of them:

a brown snake and garter snakes. I agree some of the ideas are beautiful. I am trying to figure out what works for me, what makes me feel good. Next weekend is my birthday and my family will (I hope) from my wish list gift me some items for this project. So far I have hand washed the fence with oxyiclean, water and a brush. I added Elfin thymus ground cover under the fence area. Next I will tackle cleaning the bricks and finishing off that mixed up area. I figure I should start with a clean area that add in some of the beautiful ideas.