Environment and Resource Management

Attracting frogs to your garden

Frogs live in many places, including suburban backyards. Creating a frog friendly environment around your garden can be fun and it's easy. Frogs need plenty of moisture, shelter and food. This means planting native trees, shrubs and ground cover, using mulch on garden beds and providing rocks, logs, and water.

Frogs eat a variety of insects including moths, mosquitoes (and their larvae), cockroaches, snails and flies. Their prey must move and be of a suitable size for the frog to detect, catch and eat. Don't use insecticides around your garden. Not only will they kill frog food, they'll also affect the health of frogs.

Shelter and protection

You'll need to plant native shrubs, ground cover and trees of different heights. Your local nursery can provide advice on varieties native to your area. Use a natural leafy mulch (not pine bark as this can be too acidic) around garden beds and ponds. Manicured gardens look good but do not provide much shelter and protection for frogs. Shrubs and ground cover provide frogs with a comfortable resting place, hiding spots from predators and shelter from wind. Vegetation also attracts insects to your garden. Frogs eat a variety of insects and can act as natural insect predators. Compost heaps raised off the ground (bricks work well) and covered with chicken wire also provide shelter and attract food for frogs.

Moisture

All frogs need moisture, and some species need water for breeding. A garden sprinkler system works well if used around vegetation. Clean water is essential, so keep in mind that water from taps can contain chemicals which are not suitable for frogs. If you are using it, stand it in sunlight for about a week to remove chlorine, or treat it with a chlorine-neutraliser available from aquariums or pet shops.

Building a frog pond

Building a pond is an effective way of attracting frogs to your garden. Combined with vegetation and a moist environment, a pond also provides them with an excellent breeding area.

Construction materials

Your pond can be as elaborate or as simple as you like, constructed from objects including:

You can also make a pond using a sheet of plastic (check with your landscape supplier for a suitable type), sand, rocks and plants, both aquatic and terrestrial. If you want a permanent garden feature, a concrete pond would be suitable.

Design

The sides of the pond should be sloped, and ideally it should be spoon-shaped with shallow sloping ramps to enable the frogs and metamorphs (tadpoles turning into frogs) to get in and out of it. If you are using a container (e.g. tub, bath, etc.), you can create a ramp from the pond to the ground or nearby tree by using sand, gravel, rocks, logs, tree branches or overhanging vegetation.

Do not build your pond in direct sunlight as the water can become hot enough to kill tadpoles. Placing a light in your garden near your pond will attract insects during the evening and provide food for the frogs.

Surrounding vegetation

Vegetation, rocks or tree branches around your pond enable frogs and metamorphs to hide from predators, and provide shelter from the wind. Vegetation also attracts food for frogs. A frog pond should contain a few aquatic plants like water lilies to provide shelter and aerate the water. Try not to place your pond directly underneath trees, especially those used by flying foxes or those with poisonous leaves and sap (check with your local nursery if unsure).

Tadpoles survive on algae and micro-organisms. Decaying plant matter in and around a pond will provide these essential nutrients. Provide washed, boiled lettuce leaves for tadpole food every couple of days. Remove any excess food so the water stays relatively clean.

Water

When filling your pond, ensure the water is free from chemicals such as chlorine. (If you are using tap water, allow it to stand in sunlight for about a week to remove chlorine, or treat it with a chlorine-neutraliser available from aquariums or pet shops).

Neither is water from a metal tank suitable as tadpoles are sensitive to the chemicals found in metal. It's a good idea not to allow rain water to run into your pond as it can also gather chemicals and contaminate the water. You can help prevent toxic run-off entering stormwater drains by using natural insecticides and pesticides, minimising your use of detergents, and washing your car on the lawn.

Frogs will help prevent mosquitoes breeding in your pond as they feed on the larvae. Mosquitoes prefer still water, so installing a water pump will circulate the water and stop the water stagnating. When buying a pump remember that mains-powered units should be installed by an electrician; however frog ponds do not necessarily need a pump to be successful.

Caring for frogs

Keep family pets and small children away from your pond.

Frog skin is very sensitive because they breathe and absorb moisture through it. Try not to handle frogs - if you do, make sure your hands are moist and clean. Any chemicals or detergents that might be on your hands can be absorbed by the frog, with disastrous results. Always wash your hands when you have finished handling them. You can keep some frogs as pets, but the best place for them is in your garden, not in a fish tank in captivity.

If converting an established fish pond, remove the fish, drain the water and let the pond dry to ensure no fish eggs remain.  Most fish species are not compatible with frogs as they will compete with the frogs for oxygen and food and will eat the eggs and tadpoles. However, some native species such as the Pacific blue-eyes can be used until frogs become established. They will also help to control mosquito larvae.

When native tadpoles hatch, they feed on decaying plant material and gradually develop legs and change into frogs. This can take as little as 16–21 days under excellent conditions in the tropics and arid and semi-arid regions. In rainforest streams and cool localities, it can take up to a year!

Cane toads

Frogs are not the only ones that will find your pond attractive. If you have cane toads in your area it is a good idea to keep a watchful eye on your pond and surrounding garden.

Remove cane toad eggs. They are black, and laid in water in long 'necklaces' of clear jelly. Most frogs lay their eggs as a mass of foam or clumps of jelly in water or land nests adjacent to seepage areas, or in holes in moist areas.

The cane toad produces many more eggs than native frogs, with an individual cane toad capable of attaching up to 35 000 eggs to water plants or debris in slow-moving or still water. Cane toad tadpoles are very dark, their tails are short compared with their body size, and they gather in schools.

Humanely kill cane tools. Cooling in a fridge overnight or until they are unconscious and then freezing for at least 2 days has been suggested as the most humane way of killing cane toads. Toads should first be collected in a container that has air holes. When put into a fridge, a cane toad will become dormant as a reaction to the cold. It will eventually die in its sleep once placed in the freezer. It can then be placed in the compost bin or buried in the garden deep enough to prevent pets or native animals digging it up.

Other ideas

If you don't have the room to create a frog-friendly environment in your garden, other things you can do to help include the following:

Last updated 14 June 2011

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