But, we need to see the paths, and a twinkle here and there in the trees,
or lighting up a special hardscape feature, or a beautiful plant or pond,
that just makes a night garden accessible and magical.

I tend to go with mini lights in the trees and a few solar spots and globes.
Big outdoor candles (IKEA has the best) in lanterns for parties.
One of my favorites is candles in paper lunch bags along a path, though it's
a bit of a bother when you're busy.
There never seems to be enough light on the grill around here.

I'm curious how other people do lighting, pictures, if you have any, would be
really interesting.

So simple, and much easier and quicker than the paperbag things.

Lightshades from discarded light fixtures, sitting in a bowl or saucer, tea light candles.

Someone on the Landscape Forum once remarked that they did not use any artificial lighting in their garden, only candles. Romantic notion, isn't it?

Nell

I put up three of my minilight strings and absolutely hate them.
Happily they were cheap and have other uses.
I'm back in the dark, which is good, but still feel the need for
some small light or lit something, not sure what.

There was a Cirque du Soleil show, maybe Allegria, that had those
huge "torches" made of raggedy fabric blown upwards by a fan around the bulbs.
It was awesome!

Eva

We will have to resort to low voltage lighting for the front, as we live on a dark suburban street. We're doing it in part for more security and in part for safety. I do have Christmas lights on the patio, but they're not pretty in the daytime, and I'm always a little worried that our east neighbor might find me tacky.

I plan to make some tin-can votive holders eventually. You get a safety-style can opener, take off the lid without leaving a sharp edge, fill with water and freeze, and punch out a design using a hammer and big nail. Then unfreeze and attach a wire handle. We'll see how that goes, if I ever get around to it. I think I got that idea from a book called Garden Junk.

-Rae

I'm far from satisfactory solutions yet. Any live flame is out of the question
in my main gardens, they're 700-1200' from my house. The best thing so far
are some small solar powered spots, 3 in a box with a small solar collector.
They're small, black, easy to hide and give off a surprising amount of light.
They actually throw light rather than just glowing.
The thin, black cords are 25' each and also easy to hide.
I'm thinking of getting some more and try someting with orange cloth,
since the light is too white.
The link shows the kind, though mine were 39.00 and have spikes that push
into the ground, or you can tie them to a tree.

I did not get to try out my rope lighting before Katrina destroyed my home, but planned to locate the strips (fitted with a dimmer) beneath the holly ferns rimming our old brick patio, which would lead folks to the front door.

Those ornaments used at Christmas time, the long twisted plexiglas thingies, they tend to pick up the merest trace of light as they move around. Hanging them near a light would add ambiance as they say in the decorating books. :)