The garden refresh How to give your yard big impact on a small budget

Like any good professional, West Coast garden designer Holmes advises home gardeners to first scope out the situation. In other words, think about the garden--its purpose, your wish list, and the elements, from frost patterns that will affect your garden to the smells, tastes, and the like that could emanate from it. That blueprint then becomes the basis for Holmes' well-honed counsel and lists: what to DIY for easy impact, how to upcycle (read: create something new from old used materials, like pallets), the right mulch, the top succulents, lawn care. In a chatty manner, she freely shares information that's the province of long-tenured gardeners: Water wisely. Don't buy plants with floppy leaves. Dog/cat hair can control critters. Split hostas every three years. Buy in bulk, not by single packages. Color photographs provide great options to consider and will drive any wannabe plant lover to drooling (it's worth noting that the author's native ground is beautiful and temperate Marin County, California). A great starter for novices, and a refresher for wise hands.

Designer Holmes offers suggestions for sprucing up a garden "guided by ecological responsibility, embracing recycled materials and creative salvaged treasures" in her California-cool debut. Writing that "my love of gardening--and my creativity and resourcefulness--started as a child of hippie parents living in Marin County during the funky 1970s," she makes a case that a successful garden is one that's personalized and purposeful. She recommends using what one already has, such as upcycling an old shipping pallet into a coffee table, and suggests that projects such as walkways, walls, and irrigation are worth spending money on. As for greenery, she encourages starting with small plants that can quickly adapt to their new surroundings and practicing "social distancing" in the garden to allow room to grow. Holmes also shares some of her favorite plant "power couple" pairings; makes recommendations for special situations ("Gardening with deer requires flexibility in plant choices, experimentation, and a little luck"); and provides recipes for a pest repellent and natural fertilizer. Her best tips are both practical and creative, such as using a coffee filter to cover a pot's drainage hole and starting seeds in ice cream cones. Holmes's easygoing style will get any gardener's creativity sparking. (Apr.)