Ideas for my back yard

So I am a student with a typical student house empty back yard. It is almost entirely paved, with just one tiny flower bed in a corner. (I've attached a photo) Unlike most student houses we have a beautiful view over a park and as soon as it is vaguely sunny outside we all flock to the garden, especially as two of us are English Lit students and spend most of our days reading. Obviously, the house isn't mine so I can't do anything major/permanent and I have a pretty limited budget, but I love gardening and want to do something to make it a nicer place to sit in. It being Sheffield and therefore not a massively warm garden I'm not sure how well pots would survive? I spent yesterday clearing up leaves and cutting down brambles and ivy that had crept through from next door, but now I'm stuck! I wondered whether anyone had any inspired ideas?
Thank you!

 

I would go for some container garden, then you can up sticks and take them with you when you leave
As you are reading literature and thus unable to just look about then something sweet smelling, so you can read and take in the Garden scents

Jack McHammocklashing

 

That looks like Endcliffe park to me. Am I right?

In any case, its a nice yard, and Sheffield's weather is plenty good enough for most stuff, especially in a sheltered spot.

I think Jack is bang on with the container garden idea. Being a student, you no doubt have about 3 billion friends, so space is at a premium, and of course the yard needs to be able to withstand the occasional drunken 'incident', so I'd keep it simple, and go for indestructible container plants.

First up, you can't go wrong with Mediterranean herbs. Rosemary will give you a lovely fragrance, looks fab, and doesn't care at all if you completely forget to water it for a few weeks.

Sage is lovely too. Just the plain old common kind, or its vareigated buddy are great. Purple sage is fab to but is far less hardy, so will take some frost damage in the winter (Sheffield being at the foot of the Pennines can go from unseasonably warm to practically arctic within a matter of hours during the winter). Sage is a good one because it blooms so abundantly for so long. Expect flowers from mid summer til december.

Lavender is a bog standard sticking filler. Great, needs no introduction.

The above trio are all very pretty and strongly fragrant. The fragrance is the perfect compliment to a glass of red wine on a warm evening, and if you've just made a batch of bruschetta, you may as well throw your passport away cos you don't need it.

There are of course many more container suitable plants. The choice is endless and it depends on your personal preferences. I think I'd throw in some petunias just for their low maintenance and long supply of colour too.