Just Looking for some ideas.

I'm looking for some landscaping ideas that I can do for free. I live up in the bush, so small trees, bushes, rocks & boulders, driftwood, logs, standard gravel, sand, etc. are readilly available for free.
My backyard is a basic rectangle shaped yard (about 20 X 30 ft.) and one of the far back corners has a gravel parking spot big enough for 1 vehicle. The rest of the yard is grass.
I'm only renting, therefore I would rather not spend alot of money on materials for "someone else's" yard. I was contemplating a small pond somewhere but I'm not sure if it'd work.
Any ideas (links to pictures would be great) would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Here is a picture of the yard as it is now.........

Do you intend to leave the gravel in the corner?

Your picture looks like a box inside a box, so the best way to break that up would be to use ameoba like lawn in the middle. Something like a kidney shaped swimming pool - only in lawn. The key is long sweeping curves that you can mow around - no square corners. If done right you won't even have to break out the line trimmer, you can mow right along the edge. On the outside egdes frame it with slightly raised garden beds (you might want to line the fence edge with some cherry timbers (which are relatively inexpensive). That will contain the backside of the soil, and allow you to build up the hight of the garden bed. Put down newspaper on the current lawn where the beds will be to prevent the grass from coming through.

Main cost - about 20 yards of rich three way mix soil. Spread a thin layer (1-3") across your existing lawn to top dress it, and rake in some fresh grass seed. Make your beds about 6-12 inches at the crest to provide some visual effect, higher to the back side, a little height variance really helps, especailly in a new landscape.

Once the grass comes it, rent a power edger to cut in the final outside edge, and strip away the sod. Should leave a small trough where your grass is slightly higher than the edge... but that is nice for when you do your occassional line trimming.

This will frame it, and make your lawn look like a golf green. Just add some plants and shrubs of your liking.

http://www.spokanegardenhomes.com/theGardens.htm has some sample photos from my yard with this effect. BTW - the pond in the picture is just a pair of heavy duty tarps from costco layed over each other(~$20).

I would first get some climbers on your fence, that will give you some hight AND colour, check that they will withstand your winters, even if you have to cut them back, I know some roses can cope your way, you may have to put a mulch, like wood chips over them to stop the frost killing the roots, I agree with Simmysam3, you need to get some shape into your garden, easiest way to get any idea's is, lay a hosepipe down, curve and shape it till you feel happy with the outline, then cut out the borders around the shape,leaving the grass where you want a lawn, curves are more pleasing to look at than straight lines and as stated above, much easier to tend, you can always grow your plants in pots, SINK them into the borders, if winter is a problem, take them inside or cover for protection, you dont have to fill your borders with hundreds of plants, a few nice selections grouped together will be better than a row of plants that look like they are waiting for a bus.
Dont take on too much, just do one border at a time and see how you manage it and are happy with the results, I have seen so many people put off because after all the hard work, they had a dot of colour here and there and the bits that were empty, got taken over with weeds, so do a bit at a time, any bare ground by the way, you can cover with wood chippingd and place some of the drift wood or boulders in groups and make this a display, then when you have more confidence, cash or time, you just put more plants in, but the weeds are kept at bay. IF you plant in pots and sink them into the borders, you can take them with you when you leave the property and replant next house. you can make a pond from an old sunk in bath, remember to glue the plug in, or a kids paddle pool, sunk up to the top, then grow things around it to soften the edges, look next time you pass the local tip, however, in summer, you might have to top it up with water, come winter, you may have to empty it if you have trouble with frost, ponds bring wildlife which helps your plants and really enjoyable to watch, however, dont be too carried away your first year, better to do it right, bit by bit than go hell for leather with a mud patch, sore back and cant face the next stage, go to your local librery for books and that should get you started, hope this helps, good luck.
WeeNel.

Just a note to add - "tip" is a dump, land-fill, etc. in case you were confused about that.

Thanks islandshari, for the translation from "Tip" into dump, I forget that my Scotish accent is not spoken around the world, I am learning your sayings and even plants come under different names from area to area, you are kind, thank you.
WeeNel

WeeNel, not to worry. I'm enjoying reading your posts. I had a Scottish friend in Saudi Arabia who was SOOOOO hard to understand! We had a pub on our compound, and if he had had a few all anyone could understand was "Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa". But he was a dear, and after a year or so I could converse with out saying "excuse me" ten or twenty times in as many minutes. I'll bet we are just as hard to understand when we're in Scotland! Glad you could join us:-)