Small courtyard. Spouse allergic to shrubs. Could use some ideas for what next. [View all]

https://flic.kr/p/WL3EGa

That's the view of the courtyard from the third floor. We live in townhouses, and we're allowed to do as we please with our courtyards. We bought this house two years ago in September, and have done very little with the courtyard so far. I'd like to return to container gardening in the space we have, but last summer was busy, so all I did was hack stuff down. I'm a desert kid, so I only water food plants. That's what's survived without any input from us.

Spouse is allergic to the shrubs on the right. I'm not attached to anything the builders planted, and have been hacking back what was there (the pile on the left, going to municipal compost tomorrow). Spouse just wants to have a load of pavers delivered. I don't, because we have bindweed in the area and some green helps keep the house cooler in summer. I don't want grass, but I've had good results with clover as a ground cover. We have to avoid pine (my allergies) and anything in the aster family (spouse, ragweed) and most European grasses (spouse). High alpine climate, technically Zone 5B, but dry.

Right now, there's 20 year old landscape fabric and 5-10 year old bark mulch under the shrubbery. The front walk has about an inch of frost heave on two squares, but I'm not willing to break up the concrete right now. I am planning a wide, long arch/trellis over the walk, to grow pole beans or possibly hardy kiwi, and a set of trellis on the right for tomatoes. We face west, so the courtyard gets morning shade. The trees are deciduous, not maintained by us, except by HOA fees.

I am just out of ideas and decision making capacity. Any suggestions?