[bainsk8]

Early this Summer I found a frog in the garden. We don't have a pond but the next door neighbour has.

Unfortunately we don't have the space for a large pond but I was wondering if there are other ways to encourage them into the garden?

Do they nest or make dens?

Would a plastic window box container buried and filled with water be of help to them?

[ANHBUC]

They will use your garden even if you don't have a pond.  They do like places to hide that are cool.  A pile of wood or rockery stones are ideal.  Even a group of plant pots close together is a good place for them to hide.

If you do want to put a small water feature in for them you could use an old plastic dustbin.  That is how we started out and we had plenty of frogs in it.

[bainsk8]

That's why he/she was in my garden, I did have a wood pile until recently. I will have to create another one for them.

I like the bin idea, I can allocate space for that and put some small rocks around it. The only problem I can see, is the only place I have available has a Ceanothus over hanging from next door. When it has finished flowering they drop and the ground is a sheet of blue small petals. I don't think this would be good for the pond, would it?

[Yorkie]

Make sure it doesn't have high steep sides or they / other animals may have difficulty climbing out 

[bainsk8]

That is a very good point Yorkie, thanks. With this in mind I will use a big plastic storage box and I will place a brick step in it.

[8doubles]

A thin hard plastic box will probably split  once ice forms on the pond a polypropylene type plastic (as used in barrels) with a bit of give is much better.
A piece of heavy plastic netting loosely pegged over the pond will stop hedgehogs from falling in whilst allowing frogs in and birds will still be able to drink and bathe on the netting.

A lot of frogs hibernate at the bottom of ponds not surfacing at all because they can absorb enough oxygen through their skins , if you fill the pond with bricks for steps that means less space for oxygenated water.

Frogs are not fussy where they live , i found one hiding in a disused slug trap yesterday !

[bainsk8]

Thank you 8doubles again some good info there. I was wondering if one of those flexible rubber garden bins with the two grab handles would be OK to use?

I did have an idea of using a terracotta pot laying on its side and half burred as a den for frogs. I will then place a wood pile behind and over the pot to keep it cool.

We are getting there with attracting wild life into the garden.

Last year we planted to attract bee's and butterflies into the garden and was very successful with using Echium, (Blue Bedder) and Nasturtium. The Two huge Nasturtium areas planted were crawling with caterpillars and we had them cocooning all over the garden, greenhouse and house. This was great for the kids to see some wild life in the garden and watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly.

I also made a bird feeder hanger which clamps to our washing line pole. We fill the feeders with sunflower seeds and we must have around 30 finches or tits taking turns in eating seed. We still need to identify the birds, but they are great to watch.






If you look carefully you can just see a Wagtail sitting on the gutter, bottom right-hand of photo.

[8doubles]

Nice flock of Goldfinches you have there bainsk8 , one of the prettiest UK birds that lots of  peoplle would love to get a visit from.

[bainsk8]

Ah, Goldfinches thank you 8doubles we did wonder what they are, our Observer Bird Book is from the 60's, (ebay buy) and its a bit hard to tell from the small pictures.

We also get a Robin and a Blue Tit visit us. Very nice to watch them.

I have just made another bird feeder, which was suggested in another thread here. I will post a photo up a bit later.

Edit: I just posted up some photo's in this thread

[sarajane]

we made a small frog pond with the grandkiddlies last year.  We aquired some spawn which hatched.  The froglets got to the four leg stage but still with a tail and then promptly disappeared. 

I would have thought they were far too small to manage on land and wondered if they had been eaten by birds.  Is this something that could happen folks.

[8doubles]

we made a small frog pond with the grandkiddlies last year.  We aquired some spawn which hatched.  The froglets got to the four leg stage but still with a tail and then promptly disappeared. 

I would have thought they were far too small to manage on land and wondered if they had been eaten by birds.  Is this something that could happen folks.

The remnants of the tails on the froglets disappear quickly after they leave the water and yes birds do eat them if they get a chance . I think a lot of the froglets hop it at night for this reason and only have hedgehogs to avoid !
Frogs lay hundreds of eggs and spawn in groups so that predators can never get all the little ones .

[sarajane]

Thanks for that 8doubles.  It did seem as though they went overnight.  Hope some of them made it.

[Daamoot]

...If you do want to put a small water feature in for them you could use an old plastic dustbin.  That is how we started out and we had plenty of frogs in it.

What a great idea!  I have a log pile and spotted 2 little frogs at the start of the year but haven't seen them since and as I'm renting I didn't want to invest in building a full blown pond. Therefore a cheap plastic dustbin and some hard graft with a pick axe is very tempting! The plastic netting to save the hedgehogs, should this cover the entire top so they can't get in at all or just be over the edge to help them escape if they do fall in? 

[8doubles]

I put the netting right across the pond as hedgehogs are suprisingly good climbers.
They are also frog eaters !

[ANHBUC]

We put a roofing tile at a slope on bricks in the bin pond to make sure nothing got trapped in it.

If you have a bush overhanging the pond just give it a prune to lessen the amount of leaves.  Some leaves will decompose on the bottom and the frogs love hiding in the sludge.  If you are lucky you might attract dragonfly as they lay their eggs where a good supply of tadpoles are.  The dragonfly nymphs are in the water for a year and love to feed on tadpoles.  You may even get newts as they live in the garden for most of the year like frogs.