Woodchips is very smart!!
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If you can put in an edge to make it a defined area, gravel or woodchips is a great idea for that area. It would pull it together much more decisively than just adding potted plants. You could extend it around your concrete patio area as well to extend that area and get rid of a little more grass?
Any plant hearty to your zone SHOULD overwinter alright in a pot. I’m in a 5a/5b zone, so I have no plant recommendations, sorry. I’m sure there are some AMAZING flowers you can grow, though. I think @SisterX does a lot of gardening and is in your same zone? Maybe she can recommend something 
ETA - You could also put some bright outdoorsy art on the house? Hanging your fairy lights along the gutters would be pretty too, even if you don’t string them above your seating area.
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I feel this in my soul.
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Man I really feel the “wanting to spruce up the place but not owning it or planning to” thing! I make very few, and very slow, decisions because of that. Start small and try to think of what would make the biggest impact for you right away so you have a “win.” I think I’d start with some bright colors somewhere. Cushions? Rug? Flowers in a pot?
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containers! put hella containers of plants on your patio. you can use grow bags or old buckets or anything, throw in some zinnia and cosmos
seeds, and water them every morning. in 60 days you’ll have 5’ tall plants with tons of blossoms on them and you can cut them for bouquets and they will keep coming!
it doesnt get you all the way to your inspo shots but it’s a nice start 
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+1 on the zinnias and cosmos! They grow beautifully with very little care!
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I was thinking even just getting those $1 12x12 pavers from Lowes and extending the patio a smidge to be able to put the grill just beyond the table. Pavers would be much easier to take with you than gravel when you move. We have an odd spot in our side yard where no grass grows and we laid down pavers in a checkboard pattern with mulch in between. I think the project was under $30. Don’t get fancy with the pavers either. Just kinda rake the dirt around so it’s not terribly lumpy and plonk the pavers on top. This doesn’t have to last forever, just give you some more usage out of the space.
Looking at your inspo pics, I would also do some wall art. Hang up some brightly colored metal signs or even tack up an outdoor rug for a backdrop. How do you do with things like Fountain grass up there? That might be a good cheap option to plant and define the spaces.
Also don’t worry about having it perfectly ready for having big groups of people come over. Design it for what your life is normally like(family dinners out there, reading a book on the bench) and when parties happen, you move the furniture around.
Look out for pots at garage sales/Facebook marketplace/craigslist, you can always spray paint them for fun colour. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Target room essentials pots. They are cheap as hell and have a streamlined look. I mix those with a few more standout pieces I get at Ross or TJ Maxx.
Lots of stores are clearing out their summer stuff right now so you can probably score some great deals. Jo Anns and Michaels have markdowns to 60-70% off on their summer collections right now. Some really great stuff too!
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Do they grow well in pots
Oh you literally just said that lmao!!
Leaving this post up for my shame
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It’s true, we have a blackberry problem here. They grow wild all over the place and spread like crazy. And damn their thorns are thorny! I’m sure that’s why the landlord must have told the landscapers to just pull them out. I’m sure it didn’t feel like a loss to her, and I’m sure they’ll find their way back eventually. But I did prefer seeing them instead of seeing the fence, and it was fun to be able to pick blackberries in our own yard each summer. But truly if I want to go blackberry picking, I can do so easily. Just take a little walk and I’ll find some that no one will mind if I pick from. I’ll just have to leave my own yard now.
Also, I am not a fan of goats. Yes, they are cute. But doesn’t anyone notice how stinky they are? I have a dog, a husband, and kids. That’s as much stink as I can deal with.
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I like this idea! I assume concrete or something in the buckets? You could add hooks for towels for the hot tub, or plant pots. Millions of possibilities!
In my experience, groups of >6 at gatherings start to split up, anyway. Two seating spaces still let people mingle! But also have independent conversations.
Yes…you can make drought tolerant inviting spaces but that’s more investment than you want to make! Just write it up to landlord’s responsibility. Unless you want to discuss splitting some kind of re-landscaping, but doesn’t sound like it
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Yes, I have gotten many brilliant suggestions here. I’m excited to make some of them become reality!
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I meant filled with sand. I totally thought I said sand. (Like sandbox sand you can get at Home Depot or Lowes.) Oops. 
And you can dispose of the sand (someone will take it) if you wanted to keep the buckets when you moved.
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I have spent too many years of my life battling blackberries We had to hire a whole team of goats to get rid of them, they’re so hard to take out and they take over, they’re invasive here.
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The shopping part sounds fun! I’m looking forward to that. The hardscapes part seems hard and overwhelming, but you do make it sound doable. I had no idea how put down pavers and mulch but you made it sound pretty simple. I would very much like that more than Sad Dirt Area. You’re making me feel braver but mostly I wish you could just come here and direct me.
And yes, moving the grill would be great. It’s kind of in the way but ever since we added the hot tub to the patio last summer, I haven’t had a good place for it.
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Prop up a phone and I’m happy to advise via video 
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Don’t make like bigger than a 3’x3’ area without looking up how to make it long lasting and stable (I did it a few summer ago and it’s not difficult but it is a lot of physical labor), but if you just want to move your grill onto a flat-ish place that isn’t the actual patio it’d be easy.
Ok, here is my hot take:
- Too much/wrong furniture. That table is big, and those chairs combined with it even bigger. I’d consider how much you be using that table and whether it is earning its keep. Could a smaller table do the same job? I quite like little french cafe style two seat and a small table ones.
- Bonus bench seat - is this earning its keep? Could it be relegated to a shady spot under a tree elsewhere?
- Hammock - see point 2.
- Hot tub - I’d say it’d benefit greatly from some low level screening plants around it (I have assumed it goes in the spot currently empty? I’m picturing some palms in pots?
- Plants, plants, plants. Pot plants, nothing stopping you cutting a 1/2 foot strip of lawn off along the edge of the concrete and planting massed potted colour.
- You need to create a path/flow. See point 5. But leave a gap for people to walk through. Guide them through the space. Currently the concrete just sort of spills out into the dead grass. You don’t get a sense of an outdoor room.
But at the end of the day - plants is the answer. Buying plants always the answer.
Here is the back patio of a rental we lived in for 4 years -
(not the best photo but I couldn’t find a great one. It was nice out there with all the plants)
(slightly better photo)
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I’m jealous of the size and cover. But yes, the plants make it nice. And yes, I kind of hate the patio table and chairs we have. I’m beginning to wonder how much I’m going to spend on this project…
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So true.
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