How and Why to Attract Frogs to Your Garden This Year
Frogs are great garden helpers and give us valuable information about the health of the surrounding environment. Join gardening expert Melissa Strauss to uncover the advantages of attracting these amphibians and some tips on making it happen.
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Fifteen years ago, on a trip to El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico, I fell in love with frogs. Their native Coqui holds a special place in the island’s lore, and they sing an undeniably charming lullaby every evening.
Years later, in the rainforest of Costa Rica, I would once again be charmed by brightly colored, red-eyed tree frogs. Also, perhaps, a little terrified by the poison dart frogs in the region.
Since then, I’ve spent the last decade and a half trying to invite more of these sweet creatures into my garden. Over time, I’ve gradually worked to attract quite a population of American green tree frogs. They have had some profoundly positive effects on the ecosystem in my yard. They also have their own sweet song that lulls me to sleep during the warmer months.
Amphibians are a vital part of many ecosystems, as they are an important player in the native food web. Not to mention, they are awfully cute! If you share my affinity for amphibious garden helpers, I’ve got some great tips for creating a more hospitable environment for them. First, let’s discuss some great reasons to invite them into your garden and why you should want them to stay for good!
Why Would I Want Frogs in My Garden?
Frogs and other amphibians are exceptionally helpful in the garden. Here are some of the benefits you reap from inviting these animals to stick around.
Pest Control
The most obvious and popular reason to attract amphibians to your garden is to control insect populations. Frogs are carnivores that love to feast on many of the harmful insects that can live in your yard. They aren’t picky. They enjoy snacking on flies, grasshoppers, beetles, and even snails and slugs. They can eat more than their weight in insects each day!
This is great for you and your plants, too! By keeping down populations of disease-carrying pests, you are doing a service to your family. They also do a great job of protecting plants from insects that would otherwise eat them. They themselves do not eat plants.
Perhaps the number one reason to draw frogs to your yard is their incredible ability to bring down mosquito populations. Mosquitoes carry many diseases that are harmful to humans and pets. They are responsible for transmitting West Nile Virus, Zika, and Malaria, and they carry heartworms, which are dangerous for your fur babies.
Both frogs and their young (tadpoles) help reduce mosquito populations. They lay their eggs in the same water as mosquitoes. Certain types of tadpoles, such as tree frogs, are voracious predators of mosquito larvae. Other species of tadpoles compete with mosquito larvae for food, further reducing populations.
Food For Larger Animals
In addition to their usefulness as predators, frogs also act as prey, attracting other beneficial animals. Birds, bats, and snakes all prey on frogs, and if you have a yard full of them, these other helpful animals will stick around.
The animals that prey on them, like birds, bats, and snakes, also eat other harmful insects and animals. Bats are voracious predators of mosquitoes and also, many other harmful insects. An adult bat can eat 50% of its weight in insects in a single night. Pregnant bats double that number.
Snakes are great for keeping rodent populations down. I think we can all agree that when it comes to rats, mice, and moles, the fewer, the better. Snakes will eat other insects as well, making them valuable members of the ecosystem.
Birds do an amazing amount of good in the garden. They’re great for controlling insect populations, but they serve so many other purposes. Birds aid in pollination and seed dispersion. They also contribute to weed control, and their droppings are natural fertilizers.
Maintain a Balanced Ecosystem
Because they are both predator and prey, frogs and other amphibians contribute to a balanced ecosystem. They help to control insect populations while also providing food for other helpful animals.
Studies show that the loss of these animals in an ecosystem can cause a significant breakdown in the food web. By eradicating them from your garden, you risk creating an environment where pests are more difficult to control, and harvests suffer.
Indicate a Healthy Environment
Frogs have sensitive and permeable skin. This permeability aids in their ability to drink and breathe. It also means that they are vulnerable to chemicals and pollutants in their environment.
Since they live both on land and in the water, having them around can indicate that these areas are free of harmful substances. If the frogs disappear, you could have an issue with chemicals in your water or other environmental pollutants.
In this way, amphibians act as an alarm for potential hazards. If they are happily thriving in your garden, it indicates that your environment is healthy and fit for habitation.
How to Do It
The short answer to the question of how to bring frogs to the garden is water, but some other aspects will also factor in. There are many things you can do to accommodate these little garden helpers.
Step 1: Create a Permanent Water Source
The most important factor in attracting amphibians to your garden is providing them with a water source. Frogs lay eggs in water, and their young are aquatic for the first stage of life. Like most animals, they seek out places where they can find a reliable food source and a place to reproduce.
I say create a permanent water source, but really, it can be seasonal as long as it aligns with their spawning season, which tends to be early spring. I learned years ago that a dark-colored pool cover over the cool months makes an ideal breeding ground.
According to my husband, it’s pretty gross when it comes time to pull the cover off; there is lots of ‘organic’ material. That’s great for your garden, too, though, so for me, it’s a win-win! For him, it is a labor of love.
Standing water is ideal because it collects plenty of algae and other decaying matter for the spawn to eat. If you can install a permanent pond, you’ll provide a habitat for these little creatures to live year-round.
Adult frogs love to live in flower pots that stay moist. This way, their food practically delivers itself, and they get the moisture they need at the same time.
Step 2: Avoid Using Chemicals
If you recall, we discussed above how frogs’ presence or absence can indicate toxins in the environment. Their permeable skin absorbs moisture, making them highly vulnerable to chemicals and pollutants.
Water will attract them to your garden, but using pesticides will repel them. Pesticides eliminate most of an adult’s food sources. They will likely move on and find a more hospitable yard if they can’t find enough food to sustain them.
The second issue is that the chemicals can be directly harmful to frogs and their young. Frogs are small animals, and what poisons insects is usually also toxic to amphibians. Building a healthy population will be a significant help in reducing pest populations alone.
Step 3: Provide Frog Friendly Environments
Since, in addition to being predators, frogs are also prey animals, they tend to hang out in places where they can hide from predators. They will naturally gravitate toward cool, moist, dark spots that obscure them from the view of birds and other large animals.
To keep them hanging around, make sure there are plenty of hiding spaces. Set broken pots on their sides near your water feature, or use logs and large rocks.
Amphibians are cold-blooded, so they also rely on outside sources for warmth. They like warm stones to lie on and sun themselves. If these sunning spots are also within hopping distance of shelter, it’s even better.
Step 4: Shrink Your Lawn
A grass lawn won’t do much to keep frogs happy and healthy. For one thing, constant mowing will make them run for the hills. Maintaining a lawn can require the use of pesticides and herbicides, which will scare them off if the mower blades don’t do the trick.
There is a wide variety of ground covers that require less maintenance for you. These also make for a more hospitable environment for wildlife of all types. The less lawn you leave, the better.
I know not all neighborhoods appreciate a wild front yard, so sometimes, leaving a lawn is unavoidable. In this case, make a back or side yard wilder and more natural.
Step 5: Add Native Plants
Native plants are the foundation for a healthy and thriving ecosystem. No matter where you live, if you want to support your native wildlife, plant things that naturally occur in your region.
While frogs are mostly carnivorous, native plants are not necessary for their direct survival. However, many native insect populations depend on these plants to thrive. They will pursue areas where they too, can find appropriate food sources and breeding grounds.
Since native insect populations are typically the most prolific, providing them with their host plants will create plenty of food for your amphibious friends. Another benefit of planting natives is that you will draw many more pollinators. That leads to increased flowering and food garden yields.
Step 6: Hold Off On Mowing
If you decide that you can’t do away with your lawn, you can still maintain a more hospitable environment for frogs and other small animals. A great way to do this is by taking extra time between mowing.
Mowing can be distressing, to say the least, and dangerous for many small creatures. If you can pause longer between mowing, you’ll do much to preserve habitats. This applies to yard cleanup in general, and it goes a long way for other animals, too.
Leave leaf piles just a bit longer in the spring and fall. Put off yard cleanup until the weather warms up. Many animals and insects hibernate in piles of leaves and other debris that affords them safety.
Final Thoughts
The more native wildlife you can draw to your garden, the healthier the ecosystem will be. A healthy ecosystem means less maintenance, healthier plants, and a wider variety of birds, pollinators, and other beneficial animals. Attracting these valuable links in the food web helps to create a more sustainable and healthy environment for you to enjoy.