Concrete Back Garden Area

Hi

I am a complete beginner and have a private small back garden area which includes a light-weight manhole cover and there are two pillars of brick in the bottom left and right corners.

I plan to put stretches of wood at the top between the two pillars to fill with earth or compost to plant some small dwarf conifers or maybe flowering plants. I would also put stretches of wood down the right side and left side as borders so that I could possibly grow vegetables on one side.

I am unsure whether to leave the stone effect concrete area as it is or use something unusual to cover it to make it look attractive. The complete area is a suntrap and so a sun lounger as well as a table and chairs are planned for the area so looking for ideas and feedback as to whether anything should be put on the concrete floor area.

Before getting to any planting stages, I need to get timber and was wondering what timber would be suitable and how high should it be.

I hope you can help as I would like to turn it into a beautiful garden area.

This will take me months to complete but happy to share photos of the progress.

Thank you.

Michael