Please give us a hint of your location (nearest big city & state). Sweet autumn clematis, privet, heavenly bamboo, English ivy, mulberry and mimosa are all invasive in Virginia. If you're located in the mid Atlantic, please start by removing those.

How to landscape the area depends on how you intend to use it. Kid's play set? Dog run? Fire pit?

I'm just east of the foothills in North Carolina, so I'd imagine would be about the same as Virginia. I can definitely remove those. Already started on the heavenly bamboo in other areas, and the sweet autumn clematis.

I have plenty of room in the backyard for the dogs and grandbaby to play so this will be for appearances. I would like to put a bird bath there and some cute garden statues, bird feeders, and some plants that will add interest instead of basically only seeing the lily of the valley. I'm thinking various size hostas and ferns?

A shade garden with a couple of adirondack chairs and a mix of hostas, ferns, hardy geraniums, lamium, epimediums, etc would be lovely. Could you consider azaleas, hollies or laurels to soften the outline of your fence?

I have quite a bit of azaleas and other rhododendron in other spots in my yard. One area I just got finished ridding of the clematis that was covering it. I am planning on adding more. It's an old house and I think the azaleas are such old fashion beauties. I do hope to soften the fence as I go along. There is a spot behind this area I hope to add a bench and hang some fence art, and some hanging planters, etc. I'll have to look into some of your suggestions. I'm still deciding if I should wait a couple years and use next season to smother the lily of the valley, or just dig up some to replace with other plants, and keep some. This whole back yard has been neglected for years so it's going to be a process, including tearing out some grapes and supports that were obviously planted there before the trees matured because it gets very little sun. Lol Maybe I'll keep the support if I can think of something else to plant in place of the grapes.

I love the geraniums so will definitely get some in there. I'm looking for a lot of light colored or variegated to lighten up that area both day and nighttime. It's so dark back there with the fence up. I love the shade and privacy, but it's going to take a lot of work to make it cozy.

Some camellias would block a little of that expanse fence. I just saw a hellebore at the nursery called snow fever that has speckled leaves that would definitely brighten up shade.

I'll put in a plug for Tiarella Cordifolia and woodland phlox