New House, New Garden - big project!

I have just moved into a new house which has a very mature garden. The property had not been lived in for around 2 years and the garden was probably left untended for a while before that.

At the bottom part of the garden, we have a Yew tree that is around 40+ feet tall and lots of other evergreens. It feels very much like a woodland which I love! The problem is, I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it. The garden has a big problem with ivy which is going to take a long time to address - there is already a weed control fabric that the ivy has grown over. I would love to have a bit of a grass area there but I'm guessing that might be a bit difficult to do?

What would you do with this area?

 

Congrats on the new house, I'm sure whatever you decide to do with the garden it'll be lovely. I can see why you love the woodland feel, and I bet its great for wildlife too. Enjoy it!

 

The top of my garden was like that, I cleared a little patch each day, just so you can see where you've been.
Good luck.