How to Create a Frog Friendly Pond
Frogs are great to have in your garden. Kids are fascinated by them (adults are too) and they can keep those pesky insects under control.
So, how can you get frogs in your garden pond?
First of all, don't add domesticated frogs to your pond. They will either not survive or wreak absolute chaos on the ecosystems because they could have diseases that the local frogs can’t cope with. Our frogs are under threat because of the falling number of ponds in the UK, so you need to make sure you look after any frogs that there might be.
Moving frogs from other ponds is also not a good idea, and it will usually fail anyway as they’ll have already established a home. If there are frogs in the area, they will usually come. Amphibians rely on a network of ponds, so they often move around anyway.
Creating an Attractive Pond
A frog pond should be at least 60cm deep, in a shaded area and have shallow edges for the tadpoles.
If you want a frog pond, then, unfortunately, you can’t have fish, because they like to munch on baby frogs (froglets!). Frogs actually spend very little time in ponds, only using them to breed so your pond needs to be a haven of safety for those babies.
Frogs like still water, so you don’t need a waterfall or aeration. Algae in the pond will help nourish tadpoles and create prey for adult frogs too.
This also means that the area around the pond needs to be covered and safe too, for adult frogs and the baby frogs when they emerge too.
Adjust Your Garden
Around the pond, make sure that there is lots of plant life to provide cover and pray for the frogs. Provide extra shelter with buried clay plant pots on the side of the pond for somewhere cool and damp.
You need ‘wild’ areas in your garden, where leaves, rocks, logs and garden debris are for your frogs to forage and hide.
Avoid using chemicals, as frogs breathe partially through their skin, and so using toxic chemicals will harm them.
Don’t put slug pellets down, as they are tasty food for your resident frogs.
And Now, You Wait
Once you’ve built the perfect frog pond, you need to be patient. It may take time for frogs to discover your pond, as they will likely be using their already well-established network of ponds that they know and love.
We’d love to hear about your experiences of building a frog pond. Tell us all about it in the comments below! Did you get any frogs?