Attracting a choir of frogs into your garden is too easy
says, Marc Worner; landscape designer and National President of our Institute. You may already have some frogs in your backyard. “I advise my clients to go out just after dusk, especially after some rain; with a torch and you will see their eyes reflecting back at you. Careful you don’t stand on them because they go quiet when scared: says Marc.
Some favourite spots include any water’s edge, damp ground, under rocks, hollow logs, in fact wherever it’s moist.
Didn’t find any? Create your own sanctuary in no time!
Buy an inexpensive precast fibreglass pond with gently sloping edges and shelves for plants from any major hardware store or irrigation supply retailer; put it in a partially shaded spot which is heavily planted around and in the shallows of the pond with water plants such as sedges, bulrushes, water Primrose, Star Goodenia and Hydrilla. Nearby, plant Lomandra hystrix, Thyme, Pimelia spp. and honey Myrtle.
You can buy all these plants from any good garden centre.
“Experience has taught me to always check first with my client’s local Council for its list of endemic plant species to complement my design and give the garden a better chance to thrive near the pond when frogs go walkabout” says Marc.
Some things are to be avoided.
Floating plants deplete the pond of oxygen and light which stops the algae which the tadpoles feed on.
Cats love to gobble down frogs and tadpoles.
Gold fish and other exotic fish species also love to eat tadpoles for dinner.
Instead, populate your pond with small native fish such as the Rainbow and Blue eyes. These fish only eat the mozzies so they don’t bite us instead.
Avoid using pesticides and herbicides in your garden and instead use environmentally friendly substitutes now readily available.
Better still, use none at all; frogs enjoy a feast of insect pests!
Most frog species worldwide are becoming threatened as we reduce the natural environment around us and unwittingly introduce predators.
It takes over a year for a tadpole to become a frog. Although the female Pobblebonk frog yes that’s right, Pobblebonk; lays about 50,000 eggs during her ten reproductive years; very few ever survive.
The more natural the environment the more likely frogs will populate it. Your neighbours can help have frogs without the need for a pond. Some frogs visit natural areas away from water from time to time and may also enjoy using your neighbour’s place for a visit.
Let your neighbour know what you are doing so they too can enjoy creatures that have been on our earth since before the Dinosaurs.
See our Members Directory for any further help you may need getting started or for its construction and installation.
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