Frogs in the Garden: Attracting Froggie Friends

Take a trip down to the bayou, and you’ll encounter many things of the creepy-crawly variety: alligators, snakes, and maybe even a shack-dwelling necromancer, not to mention frogs. The presence of frogs and toads in wetlands are an indicator of a healthy ecosystem. Although frogs will spawn in some pretty weird places, including the enclosed confines of a water cooler, they prefer the vastness of swampland, where humidity and moisture proliferate. 

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, frogs are declining at an alarming rate of 3.79% each year, and while that may not seem much, in the span of 20 years, they will vanish from half of the habitats they inhabit. The next time you discover frogs lounging in your unused kiddie pool, don’t toss them out. Instead, welcome these benefactors to your garden and let them snack on bothersome pests like mosquitos. If you find the nightly chorus of amphibious creatures soothing, read on how to attract those four-legged friends into your garden. 

Differences Between Frogs and Toads

Both cold-blooded creatures that frequent riparian wetlands, toads are frequently grouped in with frogs (toads are a type of frog, though not all frogs are toads), and the casual gardener is probably not too concerned with their differences. However, it can be helpful to understand the general distinction between frogs and toads. At a glance, toads can appear unsightly to more refined tastes, but their bumpy, warty skin serves a purpose, allowing them to stay on dry land longer. Frogs are slenderer in size, with permeable skin that absorbs moisture and oxygen easily. Despite their differences, both are under threat, and protecting their habitats is crucial. 

Attracting Frogs to the Garden

Letting frogs hatch in your water cooler seems a good way to populate your pond with frogs, but it’s unadvised that you do so. Transporting frogs by artificial means can inadvertently introduce disease, so it’s better to let them come naturally. Below are a few tips that can help you create frog-friendly abodes. 

1. Choose Native Plants 

Creating a suitable habitat for frogs doesn’t require you to terraform your yard into the Louisiana bayou, though you’ll want to make your garden more amenable to wildlife. Straight, delineated lawns may appeal to the modern sensibility, but they won’t to frogs. Lawns that have metamorphosed into wildlife centers, strewn with native grasses and rushes, will. In the heat of summer, many small critters scramble for shelter in the shady canopy created by plants, and any wildlife-friendly areas certainly helps. 

Below are a few native plants that are great for supporting frogs:  

• Frogfruit: A low-lying ground cover often found in drought-tolerant gardens, frogfruit is a Texas native that thrives in a variety of conditions. Although not the showiest plant, it eventually forms a dense carpet that can function as a traditional lawn. 
• Bee Balm: Also known as wild bergamot, bee balm is a staple in pollinator gardens, its spiky blooms luring in insects for frogs to feast on. Having adapted to the dry, subpar soils of the prairie, it tolerates a wide range of soils, including soils steeped in clay, and will only balk at the wettest soil conditions. 

• Sedges: Their sweeping appearance emulating the reeds that dot wetlands, sedges are great for ponds borders. In addition to providing cover for wildlife, sedges play a vital ecological role by removing toxic compounds from the water. 
• Pickerelweed: Resembling a compact lavender shrub with its stout spires of floral bracts, pickerelweed thrives along wetland ecosystems. They’re low-maintenance plants that you can plunk on the ground and forget, and there’s even a rare pink variety to choose from. 
• Rose Mallow Hibiscus: To mimic the lush, inviting appearance of a natural river basin, plant a few flowers of this water-faring plant, commonly found in brackish marshes. A striking flower with big, tropical blooms, it’s a good alternative to the relentless Rose of Sharon and other aggressive invasives. 

Make a Frog Pond 

Adding a water feature will make visiting frogs seem less like a frog out of the water. Once any mention of a pond is made, naysayers will come out in droves, decrying the swarms of mosquitoes that will inevitably congregate. However, there are many measures that can prevent mosquitoes from infiltrating your garden. Mosquito dunks or bits (Bacillus thuringiensis) are an effective solution for controlling  mosquito populations while being safe enough for beneficial pollinators such as butterflies. 

While frogs and tadpoles do consume mosquitos, they don’t comprise a large part of their diet. Yet, a thriving pond habitat does attract something that does – dragonflies – voracious killers who will nab upwards to a hundred mosquitos a day. As long as your frog pond is carefully tended, it shouldn’t become a breeding ground for these noxious bloodsuckers. 

A few rules:

• Use mosquito dunks to deter pesky mosquitoes. 
• Avoid adding fish as they will prey on frog eggs and tadpoles.
• Start your pond in autumn to take advantage of the cool temperatures. 
• The recommended depth is 60 cm (2 ft), which will be deep enough to protect frogs from the onslaught of cold weather. 

3. Keep Pets Away  

Although it’s unlikely that you’ll fish for carp for dinner, dogs or cats might take a fancy to your frog pond and start trawling for frogs. Train pets to stay away from your frog pond or keep them inside. It might help to erect a makeshift fence or surround areas of your yard with raised beds to eliminate the foot traffic.   

4. Refrain from Using Chemicals  

The effects of pesticides turning male frogs into females may seem like a humorous sci-fi joke, but in reality, it’s no laughing matter when you consider the deleterious effects of conventional pesticides on the environment. As many gardeners will tell you, insecticides and nonselective herbicides have no place in vegetable gardens. They target indiscriminately, with unintended consequences far down the food chain. And even if the pesticide is touted as selective, it should only be used as a measure of last resort. There are many natural means to curtail the number of pests, including holistic pest management.