You are very noble. Maybe you could get it sorted with your local councillor how far you could go with your plans? It looks rather daunting, and people around you don't always react to your efforts in a kindly way. Perhaps ,as it's communal, you could try and get a communal effort going, and not just you beavering away. You would need to enrich the soil and spend out a bit for maybe plants or edging or bulbs, then someone moans about what you have done, and it can get a bit sad....I've seen it happen.

Hi, Dorjac, Thanks, Local council are happy for my neighbour (whose growing veg) and i to clear the ground but not for us to turn it into our own space, ie fence it off individually for our own use !. But we will carry on trying to improve the outlook, if only in a small way. sam

I'm glad you've asked the council. I worked in an advice agency and we had several very nice ,well intentioned, people who were interpreted by other tenants as personalising space down the side of the flats, like yours. It took the local paper intervention to get officious council persons off one case, and let them keep what they had done intact. I'm sure it will look much better when you have done your good works. Have a look at my blog on Warley Place and see if it is any use for under those trees. Bluebells, daffodils, other shade loving plants you can identify by going to the bottom of the screen to the alphabet.