Water makes a garden sparkle, and it doesn't take much to capture the effect. In gardens of every size and style, you can make quite a splash with nothing more than a birdbath.

Fancy fountains and elaborate ponds full of fish completely change the character of a garden. Small water features are subtler and more personal. The glint of a pretty birdbath draws your eye, even from across the yard. It will instantly add a quiet note of tranquility, but it also brings color, life and movement to a garden: A birdbath is one of the best and easiest ways to attract birds of all kinds. And setting up a birdbath doesn't require elaborate design skills, a big budget or even a toolbox.

Finding a spot for a birdbath is easy and fun. You should be able to see it from inside the house, if possible, and from wherever you usually sit outdoors. A classic birdbath on a pedestal can be placed right in the middle of a flower bed -- or it can stand in a sunny spot all to itself. You can tuck a birdbath into a niche along a garden path, perhaps near a bench, inviting you to linger, or you can make a place for a birdbath right next to the patio. Where space is at a premium, you can hang a birdbath from a branch or a sturdy crook. You can even attach a birdbath to a deck rail or a windowsill. Out in the open, a birdbath shimmers in the sunlight and reflects the passing clouds. The birds will particularly enjoy a more intimate bath in the dappled light under trees.

When you're looking for just the right spot, keep in mind that the birdbath must sit level with the ground. If your yard slopes or the soil settles under base of the birdbath, a few paving stones or bricks will help maintain an even water level in the basin.

All birdbaths are great garden decorations. A birdbath on a pedestal is inherently sculptural and becomes a natural focal point in a garden, so place it thoughtfully to take full advantage of it. Colorful glazed birdbaths complement summer flowers and add bright notes through the winter. Low birdbaths made from a plant saucer or any large, shallow dish fit naturally into more informal gardens. A gleaming metal birdbath will reflect the spirit of a formal modern garden design.

Birds are easygoing about garden design and happily visit all kinds of birdbaths, even puddles. Nature seems even closer and more beautiful when a colorful parade of birds visits your garden all year round, coming in for a sip or a dip, splashing in the shallow water and preening afterward in the branches of a nearby tree. If you're already feeding cardinals, blue jays and chickadees, you may be surprised to discover that a birdbath attracts an even wider variety of birds. If you haven't tried it before, a birdbath will introduce an important new dimension to your backyard environment.

Birds like to drink water every day, and they'll quickly make a clean and fresh birdbath a part of their daily routine. A birdbath also helps birds cool off and keep their feathers tidy. In nature, birds look for shallow puddles after a rain, or for any depression in a log or a rock. A good birdbath is like a puddle -- it should be less than 3 inches deep, with gently sloping sides. If your birdbath is a little deeper than that, place a few flat rocks on the bottom for the birds to stand on.

To make a birdbath even more attractive to birds, add moving water. A drip or mist attachment (available at garden shops and bird specialty stores) changes the dynamic a lot, adding a soothing splash that birds can hear from the treetops, or a spray that catches their eye from a distance. Small birds perch on the tip of a drip attachment to take a sip, as though they're at a drinking fountain. With a mister, you're likely to see hummingbirds dart through the mist for a quick shower as they flit about the garden.

In a sunny spot, water will evaporate quickly from a birdbath in the summertime, so you'll need to keep a watering can or a hose handy to top up the basin; it's a pleasant part of the daily garden routine. In shade, clean out any leaves or twigs that fall into the water. Refreshing the water every day or so also prevents mosquitoes from breeding in a birdbath.

Fresh water is a secret ingredient: It makes any garden more interesting and attractive. Putting in a birdbath -- or two, or three, around the garden -- is an intimate gesture that you and the birds will appreciate every day.

SOURCES

Birdbaths of all kinds are available from:

-- Gardener's Supply Co., gardeners.com

-- Wild Birds Unlimited, wbu.com

In a tiny courtyard, in a side yard or wherever a garden just needs a pretty punctuation mark, skinny plants fill the bill. Plants with slim profiles can have a big impact.

A columnar yew or holly, a twisting topiary juniper or a slim boxwood can all fit into a small space without overwhelming it. Skinny plants stay in scale, so you can enjoy your green oasis without having to struggle to control a plant that only wants to outgrow its space.

"Hybridizers -- and nature -- have made sure there are all kinds of plants for tight spaces," says Kate Karam, a landscape architect who works with Monrovia, the international wholesaler that grows and introduces thousands of ornamental and edible plants.

Slim-profile plants have a way of making any landscape look a little more formal, Karam says, but that formality isn't necessarily out of character even in a country garden. A tall, narrow conifer or two will give an informal cottage garden a touch of class, she says. In a formal garden, skinny plants simply enhance the tailored look.

Evergreens of all kinds are among the most obvious choices for tight spaces, but annual and perennial flowers and ornamental grasses also fit nicely into tight spots. H. Paul Davis, a landscape architect in Washington, D.C., likes the effect of tall, wispy ornamental grasses, such as feather reed grass and big bluestem, which add a lot of drama to a small space.

"If you have a limited space, you really have to make a careful selection," Davis says. He looks for reliable, adaptable plants that do not demand excessive pruning and pampering, and he recommends combinations of shrubs and perennials, rather than just one or the other. "Horticultural diversity is healthier and more interesting" than the repetition of a single plant again and again, even if it's a beautiful plant, Davis says.

In his own tiny garden, Davis has a hedge of upright Green Tower boxwood, which can grow to 9 feet tall but is only 1 to 2 feet wide. In a water garden in a flowerpot, he grows papyrus (sometimes called umbrella sedge), which grows up to 4 feet tall in the course of the summer: Its green flower spikes seem to spray like fireworks from the tops of the tall stems.

Standard-trained hydrangeas (pruned to resemble small trees) also work well in spots that call for compact plants, Davis says. He likes canna lilies in pots, too, for their upright stature and bright splash of colorful blooms, which attract hummingbirds, even in the city.

Garden designers often turn to skinny plants to help define the spaces in a garden -- they might emphasize the line of a path, for example, or accentuate the corners of a patio. Upright plants can be used to frame a pretty view, or to hide an undesirable one. Along a wall, a few slim upright plants break up the solid face and give the garden "more interesting definition," Karam says.

Skinny plants in pots are fun, too. "They give you a whole different texture and add rhythm and scale," Karam says. "They're not used in pots as often as they should be." Slim plants in pots might frame a garden gate or stand sentry on either side of a doorway. Tall plants in pots placed in flower beds are exceptionally striking, like living sculptures in the midst of summertime's exuberance. Sky Pencil holly is a great evergreen for a pot, Karam says, but lots of other skinny plants also work fine in containers, and they can be left in the same pot for years. In cold climates, of course, plants in pots may need protection in the winter.

Tall, slim plants help tie together the elements of any garden design: The eye moves naturally -- even eagerly -- from one to another. In larger gardens, they're a graceful middle story, a vertical link between the garden beds and the canopies of the trees, and between garden architecture and the sky, because they draw the eye upward. They always add a lot of depth and movement to a garden. They're also interesting and fun in themselves, whether you have a design problem to solve or not.

"Skinny plants make everything around them that's bushier look better," Karam says. "They give a landscape that 'pow' factor -- if a garden just has all mound-y shrubs, it will not look nearly as cool as it would with something tall and narrow."

Sources

-- Looking for skinny plants? Check out possibilities at Monrovia's website, monrovia.com, where you can learn more about specific varieties and find a retailer in your area.

-- H. Paul Davis, landscape architect, hpauldavis.com.

Fireflies are lovely -- but you can't count on them to do all the work of lighting a garden party. For that, you need technical resources: There are many magical ways to light up the night.

"Lighting is one of the most important design tools we have, and it is accessible to everyone," says Tyler Wisler, an interior designer and partner with Tiki Brand torches. Indoors or out, Wisler says, "when you control the lighting, you control the room."

This spring, Wisler worked with Tiki Brand to light outdoor party spaces with traditional and modern garden torches and tabletop fire pieces of all kinds. Flickering flames have instant appeal, he says. "As soon as you light a fire, people gravitate toward it," he says. "It's almost primal. You feel cozy; you feel safe. It's a gathering spot."

Lighting up the garden lets you express your style in new ways and makes even a casual gathering a special occasion, Wisler says. You can use outdoor lights to direct your guests along a path, to add some twinkle to a tabletop, or to call attention to a destination in the garden. Great outdoor lighting, by its contrast with the surrounding darkness, creates a sense of privacy and enclosure.

For big events, you may want to turn to professional lighting designers, but you don't have to hire an expert. You can do it yourself and have fun, says Noah Hammer, owner of Full Circle Lighting in Atlanta. The goal, he says, is to create a warm glow, illuminating some areas more than others. "Mystery is very important," Hammer says. Don't spoil it with too much light, and, above all, he says, "do not shine stuff in people's eyes."

Hammer's background is in theater design, and before opening his own business, he worked with Cirque du Soleil, the circus arts and performance company. In the entertainment business, he learned that "the absence of light is art," Hammer says. That's not just a principle of theater lighting -- it's true in your own backyard, he says. "The dark spots add to the mystery of the show."

Cafe-style lighting is especially popular right now, Hammer says. Strings of bare bulbs with the filaments showing are a classic cafe look, and they're widely available at party supply shops and big-box and novelty stores. Allow the strings of lights to drape slightly, Hammer suggests, for a graceful look, but hang them high enough to allow your guests to walk under them comfortably. "They cast a nice warm glow over people," he says. He uses a dimmer switch (available at big-box stores) to reduce the light to about 50 percent, to soften the mood. LED strip lights, in white or in colors, find their places under railings. Hammer also recommends up-lights (sometimes called projection lights) for your trees, but don't light the trunks, he says -- light up the foliage.

Special effects are a professional's stock in trade. Hammer's team can rig up lights that look like real fireflies in the distance, and they have light setups that simulate a lustrous moon-glow.

Wisler's outdoor lighting designs rely on layers of light from standard Tiki torches, candles and tabletop torches. The combination provides light at the center of a seating area, for example, as well as around the periphery, and at different levels. Mixing several kinds of torches is always more exciting, and less formal, than sticking with just one light source, he says. Try clustering three tabletop pieces -- a candle and two tabletop torches, for example, of different heights. "It gives you dynamic energy," Wisler says.

Wisler recommends setting up clusters of lights in several places around the garden. "My rule of thumb is: More is more," he says, but he doesn't necessarily have all the lighting options burning at once. "When you are reading in your bedroom, do you turn on all the lights? No," he says. "You want to have options of different levels of lighting. It gives you flexibility to set the tone."

Use garden lights as accessories, Wisler suggests. "They're meant to be fun -- so go ahead, experiment a little." If you think of yourself as a set designer, lighting a stage as you place candles, torches and a string of lights or two around your garden or patio, that's appropriate. Garden parties make for great summer theater.

SOURCES

-- Tyler Wisler is an interior designer and tastemaker in the New York area who works with brands to integrate their products into home and garden lifestyle designs. His design firm is Tyler Wisler Home, tylerwislerhome.com.

-- Full Circle Lighting and Productions in Atlanta is a theatrical and event-lighting company specializing in corporate meetings, trade shows, weddings, parties and other events: fullcirclelighting.com. To find a lighting designer in your area, search for "event lighting" and your city.

-- The Tiki torch was introduced in the 1950s; today, Tiki Brand has expanded to include many styles and designs of torches, tabletop fire pieces and candles, and a line of torch fuel, including clean-burning and bug-repellant fuels. They're available at garden shops, at big-box stores and through tikibrand.com.

-- Outdoor party lights of all kinds can be found at party shops, big-box stores and online. One mail-order source for electric party lights, including cafe lights, LED lighting, mini-lights, rope lights, novelty lights and accessories, is partylights.com.

SIDEBAR

Garden Lighting Tips From the Pros:

-- Light up the entrance to the garden, the seating areas and the tabletop, but vary the lighting. Some areas should be brighter than others.

-- Relatively strong lights, such as torches, are a good choice for pathways. Tabletop lighting can be more subdued.

-- Mix and match lighting types and styles. "Things come alive when you have a touch of this and a touch of that," says Tyler Wisler.

-- Don't overlight the party. Buy a dimmer for strings of lights, and turn the lights down for a cozy atmosphere.

-- If you have existing outdoor fixtures, consider replacing their bulbs with flicker lights.

-- Make sure all electric lighting used outdoors is rated for outdoor use.

-- Cables and electrical wires should not be dangling or exposed. Use gaffer's tape and zip ties to secure electrical lines.

-- If you're going to keep outdoor lights up for an extended time, you might want to consider commercial-grade lights, which are more durable than regular outdoor lighting. A 48-foot string of dimmable cafe lights with 24 bulbs (15 watts each) is about $110 from partylights.com.