Backyard Expressions Oval Copper Finish Resin Garden Bird Bath with Ground Stake

A bird bath that goes into the ground like a plant, and comes up again just as easily. Birds go to water where they already feel at home, close to the shrubs and perennials they move through all day. That is rarely a spot with room for a concrete pedestal, so this one stakes in instead. Three ground legs push into a flower bed, a border or a stretch of lawn in a few seconds and hold the basin steady. Set it beside the lilacs this summer. Next summer, if the coneflowers are where the birds are, move it there. The basin lifts straight out of its wire cradle, so fresh water is a minute's work: tip it, rinse it, set it back. It is broad and gently sloped, deep enough at the center for a robin to drink and shallow enough at the edges for a chickadee to bathe, and the pierced border around the rim gives smaller birds a place to land and wait their turn. The bowl carries a warm antique copper finish over metal, with a decorative cut-out rim that catches low evening light. It has the look of an old garden piece and none of the weight of one, and the black powder-coated stake fades back into the planting so the copper is what you see. At 34 inches tall it stands above low perennials and reads clearly from a kitchen window or a patio chair, and the 16.5 by 12.5 inch oval basin tucks into a planting bed without taking it over. Set it near cover but not directly under it, fill it about an inch and a half deep, and change the water every couple of days. Drain it and bring it in before the first hard freeze.

• PLANT IT LIKE A PERENNIAL: Birds come to water near the shrubs and flowers they already spend time in, and that is rarely a spot with room for a heavy base. This one stakes into a bed, a border or open lawn on three legs, and moves just as easily when the garden changes.
• FRESH WATER IN A MINUTE: The basin sits in a wire cradle rather than bolting down, so you can lift it out, tip it, rinse it and set it back in one motion. A bath that is easy to freshen up tends to get freshened up, and the birds notice.
• DEEP ENOUGH TO DRINK, SHALLOW ENOUGH TO BATHE: The basin is broad and gently sloped, so finches, chickadees, cardinals and robins can step in and bathe rather than only sipping from the rim. The pierced border around the edge gives them somewhere to land and wait their turn.
• ALL THE CHARM OF OLD COPPER, NONE OF THE HEFT: A warm antique copper finish over a metal basin, with a decorative cut-out rim that picks up the evening light. The black stake fades back into the planting, and the whole thing lifts with one hand.
• FRONT-ROW SEAT FROM THE KITCHEN WINDOW: At 34 inches with a 16.5 by 12.5 inch basin, it stands above low perennials and reads clearly from a window or a patio chair, while still tucking into a planting bed without taking it over.