Last Updated on May 15, 2020 by Ellen Christian
Do you know how to attract frogs to your garden? Today when I was outside weeding, I came across a baby leopard frog and a baby toad. I was thrilled to find them, and I decided that I wanted to attract more of them. After doing a bit of research, I wanted to share a few suggestions with you.Posts may be sponsored. This post contains affiliate links, which means I will make a commission at no extra cost to you should you click through and make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
How to Attract Frogs to Your Garden
As much as I love wildlife, I’m not one of those people who wants to pick it up and get snuggly with it. My first response when I saw the frog move was to scream, not because I was afraid of it because it startled me. When I was younger, my sister used to think it was funny to chase me with bugs and frogs. So, that said, I want the frogs in my garden, but I’ll pass on picking them up.
What do frogs eat?
So, why do I want frogs in my garden? Basically, frogs will help keep the bug population under control. I hate bugs so that’s a good thing. Before we go much further, you should know that by attracting frogs to your garden, you may also be attracting toads. They live in similar habitats and both eat harmful insects so I welcome both. As a matter of fact, a minute or so after the frog startled me, a little toad hopped by the same area.
I live in Vermont so the frogs I have in my area may be different than the type you have in yours. I showed my husband the photos of the frog and toad I snapped and he was able to identify the frog as a baby leopard frog. We have no idea what kind of toad it was but it was clearly a baby. If you know, please let me know!
Here are a few tips to attract more frogs and toads to your garden.
Stop the chemicals
I hope that you’re not using pesticides or insecticides in your yard or garden, to begin with. It’s horrible to for any wildlife as well as for your family. If you want to attract frogs and toads, stop using chemicals.
Provide shelter
There are some super cute frog and toad houses on Amazon right now, and I may end up buying one. But, for now, it’s easy to provide shelter by using an old clay pot. Just bury it half in the garden dirt and your frogs will be happy. A garden toad house would be a nice accent. This one is really cute.
Water source
Wondering how to attract frogs to your garden? Give them water. Frogs and toads don’t drink water like we do. They absorb the water through their skin. Because of this, they will want to have somewhere they can sit in the water. If you don’t have a shallow container. you can bury a small can – like a cat food can – and put a few big rocks in it for them to sit on. Someday, I’d like to figure out how to make a small frog pond.
Ground cover
To help your frog stay safe, you’ll want to make sure that there is a ground cover for them to hide under. Birds, snakes and other small animals will eat the frogs and toads if they can find them. We have a basil plant in the same planter I put the frog house and water bowl in. When it gets a bit larger, it will be the perfect cover. Until then, they like the side of the planter too.
How to attract frogs to your garden
- Ground Cover
- Water
- Shelter
- No Chemicals
- Bugs to Eat
Now that you know how to attract frogs to your garden, what will you try first?
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Ellen is a busy mom of a 24-year-old son and 29-year-old daughter. She owns six blogs and is addicted to social media. She believes that it doesn’t have to be difficult to lead a healthy life. She shares simple healthy living tips to show busy women how to lead fulfilling lives. If you’d like to work together, email info@confessionsofanover-workedmom.com to chat.
I have installed a preformed plastic pond in my backyard, next to my veggie garden. My hope is that frogs will come. I live in the city, but there are woods nearby (near to me, not sure what “near” means to a frog). I have seen one frog last summer in the front yard,hanging out in the rockery, and heard one in my backyard a week or so ago. So far this year have not seen one. Am hoping for tadpoles and a resident frog family to move in and stay. I have ferns next to the pond, a clay pot half buried, several plants located right next to the pond for them to hide in.
I hope that works for you. I do love seeing them in my garden!
What do the frogs do in the winter?
They hibernate. Most will go down in the water and hibernate there. Some varieties burrow deep below the frost line and hibernate there.
I’ve never thought to try to attract frogs. Bees and birds yes but not frogs. I’m curious if they would come where I live on the outskirts of town. My Grandma has tons out in the country. Hmmm…interesting.
I’m sure they would as long as you gave them what they needed to be happy!
I love frogs, thanks for the info!
Glad to share!
How wonderful! I can hear bull frogs all night from across the way where the reservoir is and now I can entice them to come hither into my yard 🙂 Especially seen as my neighbor never really cleans up after her dogs soooo, we have plenty of flies…
Oh that’s not good at all (the dog mess)!
I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a frog or toad house, but it’s definitely a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
Glad to!