Removing leaves and finding seeking inspiration

My girlfriend has a lovely house but her garden is in need of attention. I somehow have volunteered to transform her garden into something beautiful, even though my gardening skills have never progressed passed using a Flymo.

Immediate challenge appears to be to remove all the leaves so that we can see what we are dealing with. Does anyone know if there are less tiring ways of clearing leaves other than using a rake? (Some sort of leave sucking equipment that isn't my girlfriends dyson?)

I was hoping that perhaps some of you more seasoned experts could take a look at the following images and provide some inspiration as to how to turn this garden into something more beautiful (preferably before summer is upon us!)

Thanks in advance

James

 

You could use a garden vacuum/blower, but to be honest for what one would cost and since most of the leaves appear to be on hard surfaces I'd be tempted to do it with a spring tined rake and stiff brush. Two or three hours good exercise ;-)