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Fun stuff- frog pond

If you want to feel like an eco warrior, enjoy frog choruses at night, and
don’t mind finding toads living in your closet, then making a frog pond
might be just the kind of project for you. It’s extraordinary what a bit
of sitting water attracts to the garden, from birds, to hornets and wasps,
diving dragonflies and a myriad of larger creatures too. I have a few
ponds dotted around my garden with a mix of Platannas, Grass frogs, and
Southern foam-nest tree frogs, plus where there’s water you will always get
visiting toads.

To make a simple frog pond, all you need is a broad and deep bucket, or pondliner about
1m x 60cm. Dig a hole roughly the same size but a bit shallower so that the top is above the
surrounding soil. Create a sort of amphitheatre of rocks inside the bucket or liner so that like
a pool for youngsters, baby frogs can get out easily.

Frogs enjoy shady cool places, so plant in a few Cyperus species, with a single water lily if you
can, so that Grass frogs will come to visit and bask on the pads when they want to. The
Cyperus species will attract Southern foam-nest frogs, that like to build their foam nests above
the water (see pic below). Frogs will not usually eat mosquito larvae, however natural predators
like backswimmers will quickly make their way to any new water source. If you add in goldfish
which do eat mosquito larvae, just make sure to put in a water feature to keep the water
oxygenated, and add in fresh water periodically. Fish will predate on tadpoles, so a simple
mesh division added into the pond will keep most tadpoles safe. A tiny bit of bread or fish
food will keep the frogs perfectly happy. Text & Pics by S.C

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