How To Attract Toads And Frogs To Your Garden

Many avid gardeners understand the importance of catering to native animals, such as toads and frogs. Toads and frogs are invaluable, as they can help you eliminate flies, gnats, mosquitoes, and pesky beetles in your garden. That’s why you may want to know how to attract toads and frogs to your garden. 

The best way to attract toads and frogs to your garden is to provide plenty of water and shelter. Frogs and toads like to shelter in piles of rocks, logs, and fallen leaves, so they can hide from predators. You can also use certain plants and lights to attract bugs, which will then attract toads and frogs. 

Water sources, such as ponds, can also establish your garden as a haven for toads and frogs. However, you may have trouble if you fill your pond with fish, as some fish eat tadpoles. Follow along as we explore how to attract toads and frogs to your garden. 

Are Frogs Good For The Garden?

Frogs and toads are good for gardens for many reasons, and that’s why some homeowners seek them out. For example, toads and frogs eat common garden pests, such as beetles, slugs, snails, and mosquitoes. It’s much better to let toads and frogs kill such pests than to pump your garden full of harmful pesticides. 

Pesticides can harm nearby plants and damage the environment. Toads and frogs can help maintain balance within your garden and ensure pests don’t take over. Seeing frogs and toads in your garden can also tell you a lot about the air quality. 

That’s because frogs and toads breathe through their skin, so they often avoid areas with many pollutants in the air. You’re more likely to find frogs and toads in your garden if you don’t pollute the air. 

How To Bring Frogs And Toads To Your Yard

There’s no ironclad way to attract frogs and toads to your yard, but several methods work. The key is to be patient and understand that it takes a while for frogs and toads to view your yard as a haven. However, you can have great luck if you take a few key steps, such as:

1. Provide Shelter

Like all animals, toads and frogs seek shelter, and you’re more likely to find them in your garden if you provide a haven. Toads and frogs typically seek shelter in areas full of leaf piles, logs, rocks, and natural debris. Discreet, covered locations let them hide from predators and cool down as needed. 

Be careful when you clean up around the yard and garden, as you may inadvertently remove frog shelters. Find shady areas in your garden and build small, cozy rock and log piles for frogs and toads to shelter. Ideally, you should put the shelter near a water source, like a pond, dish of water, or even a puddle. 

Make sure the shelter is in a relatively damp location, as frogs and toads rarely shelter in dry spots. This may take some trial and error. You can also cut a planter in half and bury it halfway for frogs and toads to hide in. 

2. Go The Natural Route

It’s tempting to pump your garden full of chemicals to encourage healthy growth and discourage pests. However, such chemicals can disrupt the natural flow of plant life, bugs, and animals. That includes toads and frogs, which typically avoid areas with lots of pesticides and herbicides. 

The good news is that toads and frogs will help take care of the local bug population, so you don’t need to use pesticides. Instead of using weed killer, you can kill weeds with a mixture of white vinegar and standard table salt. All it takes is 1 cup of table salt to 1 gallon of white vinegar to kill and prevent weeds in your garden.  

You can also naturally discourage weed growth if you apply fresh mulch throughout your yard and garden. Ideally, you should apply fresh mulch once every 1 to 2 years to prevent soil erosion and weed growth. You’ll be glad you did when you attract frogs and toads to your garden. 

3. Stick To Native Plants

There are many reasons why you should primarily plant native vegetation in your garden and yard. However, the main reason is that you can contribute to a healthy, balanced ecosystem that benefits local bugs and animals, including toads and frogs. That’s especially true if you plant native plants that attract bugs, which vary by location. 

Toads and frogs associate such plants with their prey, which includes flying insects, grasshoppers, and more. The presence of these bugs alone can attract toads and frogs to your garden. However, you’ll have much better luck if you stick to native plants. 

Carefully research the best native plants in your area to see which ones attract bugs. Focus on plants that attract bugs that toads and frogs typically eat. Thick plants that sit low to the ground can also provide shelter for frogs and toads. 

4. Set Up Lights

Low-lying lights don’t directly attract frogs and toads. However, they attract bugs that frogs and toads love eating, so it’s worth setting up lights. The key is to keep the lights as low as possible, or else the frogs and toads won’t benefit from them. 

Ideally, you should only place the light 1 to 3 feet off the ground. That way, the frogs and toads can easily catch and eat bugs that flock toward the light overnight. Place the lights close to the frog and toad shelters and water sources in your yard to get the best results. 

5. Protect Them From Predators

Frogs and toads may be cute, but that doesn’t stop birds, snakes, and even dogs from preying on them. Sadly, many animals consider frogs and toads easy targets, and that’s part of the life cycle in the animal kingdom. However, you can attract toads and frogs to your yard if you protect them from predators.

For example, toads and frogs will hesitate to spend time in your yard if you let your dog run wild. You can block off a part of your yard that your dog can’t access and fill that section with water and toad/frog shelters. Similarly, you can deter snakes by keeping your yard tidy and planting lemongrass, marigolds, basil, and garlic. 

The absence of such predators can make toads and frogs feel much more comfortable in your garden. Be patient, as it may take time for frogs and toads to recognize that your garden is safe. 

6. Provide Plenty Of Water

Toads and frogs won’t stick around your yard if you don’t provide a steady water supply. That includes birdbaths, ponds, and water dishes. The leftover water from watering your plants isn’t necessarily enough, but that does help. 

Some people even dig small holes and cover them with rocks or small logs. That way, water can collect in the hole, and the rocks and logs will encourage frogs and toads to enter the shelter. You can repeat this process in several shady parts of the garden to give frogs and toads several options. 

A small pond can also attract frogs and toads, but not if you populate it with fish. That’s because fish often eat tadpoles, so they won’t ever turn into mature frogs. This can discourage frogs and toads from staying in the area, so it’s best to dedicate the pond to frogs. 

Summing It Up

You can easily attract toads and frogs to your yard if you provide shelter made of rocks and logs. It’s also important to plant native plants that attract bugs, as this will encourage frogs to stick around your yard. Set up some lights that are 1 to 3 feet high and provide plenty of water sources to encourage toads and frogs to stay in your garden indefinitely. 

Related Guides:

• How To Keep Frogs Out Of A Pool
• Common Reptiles That Can Pose A Threat To Pets