Look into the idea of a garden room. That is, dividing each area into a defined hedged garden room with its own character. Then that stairs and long path area could be like an avenue between the areas. Whenever I see long and narrow block and kids I think bike track! Landscape with larger trees and hardy bushes and put in a gravel path the kids can ride up and down on.Clear out the plants but don't discard them, you might be able to reuse all that moses cradle elsewhere. Then get a load of mulch and mound it up along the path. It will give you a blank canvas to plant into. Look for shade plants that will give you some colour. I'd also put the gravel path back towards the fence as you come down the stair, and squeeze a little garden bed in between the path and the staircase.

Yes it's called exposed aggregate. There are many options as far as the mix of stones that can be added to the concrete. If you want a very smooth surface it can be sanded/honed, but it's probably a fairly costly option for pathways.

is this Pebblecrete that is fine gravel glued to the surface of an existing concrete slab or exposed aggregate where the gravel in the wet cement is exposed before the cement has fully cured? Pebblecrete usually comes away in patches and after 50 years could be ready to replace but exposed aggregate should be able to be cleaned and restored ...Crommelin make a range of slip resistant floor sealers and it's also possible to add fine sand to floor sealers to improve traction

Thanks, Paul. Totally hear what you're saying. We feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. Consulting a designer would have been our first port of call. But we're cautious for very good reason. We did what we thought was the sensible thing and consulted a 'designer' for our internal renovations. We got burned big time. We're fearful the same thing could happen again, when the wrong landscape designer spots the garden illiterate coming too. We simply can't afford to make that mistake again, but understand the consequences of not consulting a designer. Consulting the trades direct does arm us with more knowledge (so we can spot the con artist a little sooner), but we don't want to be time wasting tyre kickers either. We've had some great word of mouth referrals with other trades. But due to lack of exposure or bad experiences, absolutely no-one can recommend a designer or landscaper. That in itself makes us a bit nervy.