Water is always a powerful element in a garden, but you don't need a rushing cascade to capture the magic. It only takes a splash. You can have water in your garden and conserve resources, too.

Garden designers rely on water features of all kinds to complement their plantings and give gardens dimensions -- sound and light and movement -- that plants alone cannot provide. Water features can transform the feel of an entire garden. A reflecting surface of water -- even something as simple as a birdbath -- scatters light among the flowers. But water is one of the most fundamental resources, and conserving it while taking advantage of its soothing, cooling effect can require a little planning.

To make the most of water in the garden without wasting a drop, cut back on the spray. Just as oscillating or whirlybird sprinklers use more water than drip irrigation, a fountain that shoots up in the air consumes more water than a bubbling fountain. Splashing fountains lose a lot of water to evaporation, which means they will need to be replenished more frequently than a basin with a bubbler or a fountain that relies on a trickle of water to soften city noises and make a corner of your backyard feel like a world all its own.

The placement of a water feature also has an effect on the amount of water it needs to function. In bright sun or in windy exposures, you'll lose more water to evaporation than in a protected spot. The best place for a fountain or water feature is where you can see it, of course, and that spot just might ideally be in the shade on a patio instead of out in the middle of a sunny lawn, where a specimen plant or a piece of garden art could as appropriately be a focal point.

Water-wise water fountains or ponds also should have a minimum of exposed surface. In a pond, pads of water lilies on the surface of the water limit evaporation and help moderate fluctuations in the water temperature. Bubbling fountains, set in a basin covered with a heavy wire screen hidden by a layer of stones, also lose less water to evaporation because the surface of the water is not exposed to sun or wind. The screen and rocks also limit the amount of garden debris that falls into the basin, helping keep the recirculating pump from getting clogged up.

Gardeners in western states are perhaps the experts in low-water-use water features. In California, master gardeners offer courses and tips on making the most of water features so that there's no need to give them up. Deeper is better, says Rachel Oppendahl, a master gardener in Sonora, California, in the hot, dry foothills of the Sierras. Shallow water heats up and evaporates quickly, she says. Moving water also evaporates faster than still water. If you're really trying to conserve and want the lowest-maintenance water feature of all, choose a birdbath and let the birds provide the occasional sparkle and splash.

Waterfalls are among the most popular features among gardeners with ponds, says Aquascape, the Chicago-area pond specialist company, but you don't really need a pond to have a waterfall. The company designed a pondless waterfall to capture the effect. They're great in small gardens and low-maintenance gardens, or in gardens where a pond might be a hazard for young children. Since the surface area is limited, evaporation is not a significant problem.

Recirculating fountains require electricity; unless you are prepared to run a dedicated line, pick a spot fairly close to an outdoor outlet. Unlike trees and shrubs, a fountain will never outgrow its space, so you can place it right by a porch or patio or along the front walk, where it will be a very welcoming sight. They're natural focal points, but are effective tucked into a corner, too. Water features of all kinds also add dramatic impact just inside a garden gate.

Keep the plantings around a water feature simple. Ornamental grasses seem to complement water, catching the shimmering light from a surface of still water or sparkling in a bubbling fountain. Small shrubs, such as boxwood or spirea, frame a water feature nicely, and long-blooming perennial flowers bring the garden to the water's edge. Low ground covers are another natural choice. On a patio, plants in pots will give you a lot of flexibility around a fountain: Try ferns or hostas in pots in a shady spot, or a cheerful pot full of zinnias in the sun.

Small, water-wise water features have the additional advantage that you don't have to be an engineer to install them. They conserve your own energy, too, so you have just a little more time and inclination to enjoy the pleasant sight and sound of water in your own backyard.

(For editorial questions, please contact Clint Hooker at chooker@amuniversal.com.)

Playing is what childhood is all about. Making a place to play in the garden inspires kids and sets them an example for the rest of their lives. Even in a tiny backyard, there is plenty of room for children to play, and for adults to have a good time, too.

There is a lot of play equipment on the market, but you don't have to commit yourself to fancy installations that look like a three-ring circus, says Lolly Tai, a landscape architect and professor at Temple University in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Kids really don't need all that. "Kids like height, they like water, they like plants, tree-houses and stepping stones," Tai says. "Give them a little water and sand, and all of a sudden creative play happens." Tai specializes in outdoor environments for kids, particularly in schoolyards and botanic gardens, where kids' gardens have taken off. Plants are part of it, of course, but swinging, sliding, running and splashing all have enormous appeal to kids.

Tai, the author of "Designing Outdoor Environments for Children," recommends taking your entire property into consideration when you're getting ready to add a play space for kids of any age. First, write down all the features you'd like -- a swingset, a treehouse, a sandbox, a vegetable or herb garden, or fragrant plants -- and then figure out where best to place these features within the topography of your yard.

"It takes doing and thinking," she says. Bear in mind the different ways adults and children will share the garden, and try to make them work together. Don't forget comfortable places to sit: The result should be inviting, beautiful and unselfconscious.

"When you design something that looks like it was meant to be there, it flows," Tai says. "You might not be able to tell it was designed, other than it just feels good."

A vegetable garden can most definitely be part of the play area. Raised-bed gardens are especially attractive to kids because they are of an accessible scale. "It's a great way to engage kids with nature and to introduce them to plants and bugs," Tai says. She also recommends providing shelter in a child's garden: You might want to build a tepee with sturdy garden stakes and plant morning glories or pole beans around the base.

Don't make the play area an afterthought of garden design, says Michael Laris, director of product development and strategy for Playworld, which makes imaginative, kidcentric playground equipment. "If your whole backyard is beautiful and the plastic sandbox is just stuck in the corner, what does that say about the hierarchy?" Laris says. "A child has rights like we do to have proper spaces. We should do things beautifully and well for them."

Laris, an architect who specializes in architecture for children, has studied the importance of play and how it helps kids develop critical thinking and respond to problems creatively. Playing also encourages collaboration and helps build compassion, Laris says. Organized sports are great, he says, but they're rule-based: The clock is always running, and, unlike simply playing outdoors, there are "fewer chances of really defining yourself."

Hopping through a garden on stepping stones, splashing in a sprinkler or running a race between the big oak tree and the edge of the patio develop the imagination and the personality in ways organized sports do not.

Take your children to a park or playground, Laris suggests, to see the kinds of play equipment they are interested in. This will help you make age-appropriate choices for your kids in your own backyard. A sandbox is a good starting place for small children. Swinging, sliding and spinning all help challenge and stimulate a child's senses. Grown-ups forget, but "learning to swing is a big thing," Laris says. For adults, the experience of teaching a child to pump his or her legs and swing higher and higher is exhilarating.

If you can, bring the natural world of plants, birds and bugs right up to the swingset or the backyard slide, says Mary Legoria, a science teacher in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who has studied the relationship between kids and plants. Legoria is one of the presenters at the American Horticultural Society's National Children and Youth Garden Symposium in Austin this year.

Bird feeders, birdbaths and unusual plants, such as plants with fuzzy leaves or big, bright flowers, will attract kids' attention and spark their interest in nature, she says. Kids love to grow and eat strawberries, to nibble on mint and parsley and to discover the caterpillars and other insects in the garden. "They're really eager to find out what is going on," she says.

Whatever play space you create in your garden, let your kids jump, shout, tumble and roll all they want there -- or at a public playground. Muddy knees and learning that falling down is not the end of the world are part of the experience of play, Laris says. When kids play outside, they learn about their own abilities, develop balance and grace, and start to find their place in the world.

"Every child plays their way to becoming a human adult," Laris says. If they get dirty, remember this: They're having fun.

SOURCES

-- The American Horticultural Society's annual Children and Youth Garden Symposium is scheduled to be held July 9-11, 2015, in Austin, Texas; ahs.org.

-- Playworld's playground equipment is designed to inspire creative, unstructured play; playworldsystems.com

-- Lolly Tai is the author of "Designing Outdoor Environments for Children" (McGraw Hill, $57).

(For editorial questions, please contact Clint Hooker at chooker@amuniversal.com.)

Garden furniture is taking its cues from living rooms these days. Collapsible tailgate-party chairs and stackable plastic no longer seem graceful enough for back yards and porches, where substantial, good-looking furniture encourages you to take some time off from your busy world.

"I have seen outdoor spaces that look better than indoors," says Lisa Colburn of Rocky Mountain Patio Furniture in Atlanta. Her clients are especially interested in what the professionals call "deep seated" furniture, such as outdoor sofas and lounge chairs. "It's more about chilling than about dining," she says.

Colburn helps customers choose appropriate styles in the store showroom, but she makes house calls, too, stopping by to study a garden's spaces and consider the possible combinations of chairs, sofas, tables, and dining furniture with her clients. "I always ask a lot of questions," she says. "I interview them. What are they trying to accomplish? If you get the right furniture and fabrics, you can entirely change the look of your garden. You can evolve it into anything you want it to be."

Of course, you'll need to measure your porch or patio before you start to shop, but you'll also want to think about how outdoor furniture will look with the architecture of your home. You'll need to take colors, finishes, and fabrics into consideration: how will it all look in your garden landscape?

"Most people go with neutral fabrics on a bigger piece of furniture," Colburn says, and that's smart. "If they want color, I encourage them to think long term. In five years, will you be sick of the bright green sofa?" To add color and style, she suggests snappy pillows or an outdoor rug in a flashy color or a bold graphic print.

Weather is not a factor. Today's cushions and pillows hold their colors in the sun, and resist rain. "Everybody's curious, aren't they going to get filthy and destroyed" in the weather, says Brett Williams, creative director of Williams Ski and Patio in Highland Park, Illinois. The answer is "No": high-quality materials are especially resilient, and even budget pillows are rain resistant these days. You can expect a good year of wear from modestly priced cushions, and many more than that when you invest in the very best back-yard furniture.

Outdoor-furnishing shops usually carry half a dozen or more brands and cater to customers ready to make a fairly considerable purchase, spending perhaps $10,000 or more on outdoor sofas, ottomans, coffee tables and side tables designed to arrange in easy conversational groupings. Prices start at about $1,000 for a table and four chairs at Williams Ski and Patio, Williams says, and go up from there. Big-box stores and import markets are in on the trend, and also sell moderately priced sets.

The best furniture often comes with sticker shock, but these pieces are made to last, says Bew White, president of Summer Classics, a high-end outdoor furniture company that designs and manufactures outdoor furniture in more than 32 different styles and materials. Polyethylene wicker represents almost half of the company's sales, White says. It holds up to sun and rain, even in the brutal outdoor climates of Florida and Arizona. The company's wicker-look "Rustic" furniture line is a bestseller, followed closely by "Croquet," made of durable aluminum that looks like teak but weighs considerably less. Lounge chairs that can pull up to a dining table are popular, too, White says, both for their versatility and their comfort.

All-weather wicker is one of the most popular choices in the Chicago area, Williams says, but high-quality teak remains a classic. If you're on a budget, buy your garden furniture piece by piece, he suggests: you can be sure that high-end furniture will be around for years, so you can add pieces as your budget allows. If you're shopping at a big-box store, on the other hand, you can't depend on this year's designs being available in the future.

The trend in sectional seating is actually very practical, Williams says. These versatile pieces can be re-arranged for large or small groups. He also likes to recommend ottomans, which serve as additional seating in a pinch, and suggests buying side tables and end tables, "because those kinds of accessories help finish the space." A comfortably furnished porch or garden draws you outdoors to relax, even when you're too busy to stop and smell the roses. Just being outside is the main thing.

SOURCES

-- Summer Classics has stores across the South and Southeast, and the company's furniture is available through patio and outdoor furniture shops in the U.S. and Canada and through and mail-order specialists, summerclassics.com

-- Gloster outdoor furniture is available at many porch- and patio-furniture specialists, gloster.us

-- Kingsley-Bate garden furniture is also available at outdoor furniture shops, kingsleybate.com

-- Williams Ski and Patio, Highland Park, Illinois, williamsskiandpatio.com

-- Rocky Mountain Patio Furniture, Sandy Springs, Georgia, rockymountainpatiofurniture.com

(For editorial questions, please contact Clint Hooker at chooker@amuniversal.com.)