More hardscaping might make your life easier and look tidier. A professionally-laid paver path would be great but costly. A gravel path might work. The 6/11 Houzz article gravel for gardens was really good.

What did you want to accomplish? Did you want to create a garden or just a more pleasant pathway to another destination? What are the limitations in terms of fencing, etc.?

I think I want to clean this up with hardscape. Since little sun gets through, I don’t think much will grow.

These areas look more like side yards than backyards. Clarify if that is the case. If it is, we could presume that their main function is access to the back yard. The side with the walk looks less troublesome. You might consider adding a walk to the side that doesn't have one.

You don't specify where the property line is, but I presume it is somewhere within the thicket ...? Because of the narrow space, there is not room to do a conventional foundation planting (shrubs along the base of the building) and therefore, the best use of the space is as a hallway/"floor" space, keeping it as spacious as possible.

It would be good to eventually remove any of the thicket shrubs to the property line. The easiest way to do that is to cut them to ground with loppers. Treat the freshly cut "stumps" with undiluted glyphosate concentrate (applied by disposable paint brush) so as to hinder their regrowth. However, there will likely be some regrowth which you'd spray (aiming carefully) with diluted (per instructions) glyphosate, when it is about 12" tall. If you let it get taller, it becomes harder to focus spray on it without getting it on other things. A few weed plants are not susceptible to glyphosate, so you might need to use a different, 2,4-D based, herbicide on them.

Consider that there is a bald strip of dirt and some clipped weeds running along the path. Consider also that there is ivy coming from the neighbor's property. Since that will always be the case, I would be looking to use it instead of spiting it, as the actual difference to you in terms of maintenance is -- zero. Either you are beating it back in some form to keep it away, or you could simply let it come to the walk and edge it as one would do any groundcover, and then have a planted green strip of low, green groundcover instead of clipped weeds and a bald strip. In other words, this could be attractive instead of unattractive. And there is little else that could grow as well on account of the shade. Or, little that you would want to contend with since the ivy already exists.

Clip away any shrubbery hanging over the line, even if it is high up .... unless you want some overhead canopy.

At the side with stepping stones, it would be much better to remove them and place a concrete, or some solid, hard walk.

@yardvaark thanks for the input. Unfortunately this is my backyard and not a side yard

Karen, I'm not sure that makes a huge difference :-) The yard is much too narrow to very usable for anything other than an accessway.

And if those shrubs belong to the neighbors, I'd be very cautious about treating them with any herbicide that could cause damage to the 'mother' plants. If they creep or sucker, just severe through the roots at the property line with a sharpened shovel and remove the outliers.

To me it looks like the same alley space. One picture is from the end where the concrete starts and the other picture is from the other end.

Do you know exactly where the lot line is? I would clear to the lot line (or have cleared). Then depending on your budget, concrete pavers / stamped concrete to the lot line or gravel to the lot line. Don't use pea gravel, it won't stay in place. The gravel will be much less expensive, but more maintenance. The ivy will have to be kept cut back a few times a year for anything you put down. If gravel, spraying with a weed and grass killer will keep the moss and weeds out of the gravel.

If you can swing it, I would go for the permanent route instead of the gravel. That way you would only have to trim the ivy back occasionally.

To clarify. I wasn't saying to treat any of the neighbor's shrubs with herbicide, but to treat only what is on your side. In the manner prescribed, it will not affect the mother plant. The "stump" treatment is only going to treat the "stump" and the spray treatment -- confined to your side of the line -- is only going to treat what is sprayed.

"If you can swing it, I would go for the permanent route instead of the gravel. That way you would only have to trim the ivy back occasionally." Me, too.

If they are suckering shrubs, then treating any stumps with herbicide can lead to damaging the mother plant.

Is there a fence behind those bushes? Where is the property line? How much can be cut back? I would consider a fence or fence panels to give you visual separation.

@renee thanks for the comment. The property line is where all the vegetation ends. My side is where the dirt begins.

Doug, that wall is a nice touch and will help keep the ivy out.

With all due respect, kinda looks like you have a drainage problem with the ground sloping towards the house. This happens commonly as all those shrubs are going to collect dirt around their roots and raise that part up a bit. You have to be diligent on hacking back or treating whatever encroaches on your space. Is only reasonable considering how small a yard that it. I have a similar side yard. You are not limited to just the walkway, but solve the drainage problem and the other hardscaping ideas first. Do you want to sit our be out there? Or just look out the window at it? Also, can you if at all possible work out a deal where you help your neighbor prune out some of those weeds and shrubs? I really like Doug's idea of some kind of low retaining wall there. Staking out your territory, so to speak! You will also probably have to play around with grade and drainage. A french drain or dry well is a possibility, along with maybe some rain barrels if you want to use the water to water some raised beds or planters.

Where does the walkway lead, to the front yard? I like the idea of installing an arbor leading to a tiny, hidden harden. I have one at my house, bounded by a wall of big arborvitae. Can be done.

Whoever does your pavers, even if it is you, should be able to slope them away from the house. If you do get someone to do them, be sure to put in the contract about the slope away from the house and that they should be level with the existing concrete.

I second what Tigereye said. Traditionally they slope a walk like a hump to drain off on both sides, but in your tight spot, you want the walkway to slope just away from the house, in just that direction. They installed a walkway at my last house in a narrow spot like that, and the traditional concave downward curve caused water to pool up against the garage, in my case. This curve will be slight and you might not notice it at first. I only realized the mistake after I tried to figure out why all of a sudden I had water seeping under my garage foundation. This is something to watch out for. You don't have a lot of drainage area so it has to be engineered into the design and the installers have to follow through.