Garden mister is cool addition to your wildlife garden

A chipmunk climbs up near the mister on a particularly hot day during a heat wave.

A recent heat wave sweeping across major parts of North America has reminded me of the importance of adding water to the landscape, and a mister is certainly a cool addition to any wildlife garden.

I set mine up as soon as the heat started and let it run throughout the entire time that saw temperatures reach well into the 40s C or 110-114 F. The cool mist can be a lifesaver for small birds, mammals and even insects looking to escape the worst of the afternoon heat.

I picked up our mister many years ago from a local home store. They were advertising it as a way for humans to enjoy a cool mist while on their decks and patio, but I instantly thought of the hummingbirds who are attracted to bathing in fine mists as well as gentle sprinklers.

A hummingbird buzzes around near a feeder and our mister seen here protruding from the left of the image.

For more on providing water in the garden for wildlife, check out my other posts:

• Best bird baths for the wildlife garden.

• Why use a hanging bird bath.

• Tips for using water to attract birds and other wildlife.

Most misters are easy to set up by simply attaching your hose to the end of the hard plastic female coupler on the mister, which are often shaped in a way to allow it to stand up on its own. Ours includes two tiny brass mist nozzles that send a fine cool mist up into the air about to about two feet in height.

Even a slight breeze sends the mist softly flowing across the patio or deck. I admit that it works well whenever the breeze blows the mist in my direction.

This image shows the mister in action with the tiny brass nozzles.

I set ours up around our patio pond, which is also set up as a hummingbird haven with several hanging feeders and plants the hummingbirds are particularly attracted to including cuphea, salvias and nicotianas, just to name a few.

The plants get a nice soft watering in the heat and the water helps to keep our pond filled to the brim so that our resident chipmunks and squirrels have easy access to the refreshing water.

There are several different styles and makes of misters available at Amazon and other on-line or local garden and wildlife stores.

This inexpensive mister available at Amazon is typical of the style of garden misters that are available, but the added addition of the screen filter can be helpful effectively removing impurities in the water and prevent the misting cooling system from being blocked by scale and keep the mister working properly for extended periods. The tiny nozzles can get clogged easy enough so any filtration of potential debris getting into the misters is a bonus.

In fact, a wasp decided our mister was a good place to build a nest one year resulting in a major obstruction that shut down our mister until I realized what had happened and cleaned it out.

This 60-inch flexible mister stands on its own as is even advertised for use with bird baths and hummingbirds. It’s nice to see the company is thinking about helping wildlife. It is equipped with standard 3/4-inch garden hose connector, and even includes “sealing tapes and high strength sealing washers,” to stop leakage between the adapter of the standing mister and the faucet.

If you are looking for more, this multiple head mister will provide wildlife, children or even your pet dog with a cooling mist from every direction.

One of the benefits of the misters is the ability to set the misters up for a variety of uses that range from cooling your own sitting area, an area your children or pets are using or, of course for wildlife. The misters are easily transported to different areas in the garden, patio or deck and use such a small amount of water that you will not notice it on your water bills or be overwhelmed by large amounts of water pooling on your deck or patio area.