Wondering how to make a frog pond in your backyard? Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating an amphibian habitat in your own backyard, so you can have frogs as part of your ecosystem and help keep insect populations under control.
How to Make a Frog Pond in Your Backyard: Things You Need
How to make a frog pond in your backyard? Here are the things you need to prepare:
- Medium-sized rocks and several bags of gravel
- Tape measure
- Water plants
- Spray paint or string
- Shovel
- Pond liner or landscaping liner
- Level
- Pocketknife
How to Make a Frog Pond in Your Backyard: Before You Dig
How to make a frog pond in your backyard? Before digging in your yard, don’t forget to call 811 first. The automated service allows you to check for dangerous wires or critical utility lines without endangering yourself.
How to Make a Frog Pond in Your Backyard: 5 Steps
STEP 1. It’s important to pick a shady spot that is out of reach from trees. You don’t want to be too close to trees as this might put you in danger if lightening were to strike.
STEP 2. DECIDE ON SIZE AND SHAPE. Use spray paint or string to mark an outline of your own frog pond. Start digging the pond to about 2 feet deep. The pond can be shallower at its edges, and you should slope the sides so frogs can easily exit the water if necessary. Make an access ramp with rocks and gravel so you can get into the pond easily for maintenance as needed.
STEP 3. Be sure to remove any stones or roots that could potentially puncture the liner.
STEP 4. Place the liner in place and push it into place, making sure that it extends 15 inches beyond all sides of the pond on all sides. Remove as many folds as feasible.
STEP 5. FILL THE POND WITH WATER. Cut off any excess plastic pond liner, leaving about 10-12 inches all around the outside to be buried under soil or covered with stones. Your backyard frog pond will need tap water plants to provide a place for frog eggs and shelter for tadpoles. You can also add a piece of driftwood as well as small lily pads at some point in the future if desired.
How to Make a Frog Pond in Your Backyard: Why Choose Native Frog Species?
How to make a frog pond in your backyard? If you build a frog-friendly pond, you will only be able to have native species, which is much better for the area. Non-native species can cause problems because they might not survive in their new environment or they could establish a population and compete with the local ecosystem for resources. They may also spread diseases, such as Chytrid fungus.
The needs of a native species are usually easily accommodated, especially when it comes to things like the climate.
How to Attract Frogs
The easiest approach to entice frogs is to figure out what type of habitat your indigenous frogs enjoy and attempt to duplicate it in your yard. You can find information on native frog species from your state or provincial wildlife or natural resources department. Here are some guidelines for creating a pond that is friendly with frogs:
- Easy Escaping. A pond with sloped sides will enable the frogs to easily exit and enter the pond as they please. It’s simplest to build a frog pond that has gradual slopes from shallow to deep by using a flexible pond liner. If you’d rather use a pre-formed plastic liner, you can, but then you must place rocks or other objects in the water strategicaly so that it forms somewhat of a ramp for the frogs. The size of the pond does not have too be very large either.
- Filtration, Aeration, and Waterfalls Should Be Avoided. Frogs prefer quiet, calm water.
- Frogs are natural predators of fish, especially eggs and tadpoles.
- If you want to make your frog ponds more natural and inviting for wildlife, add some aquatic plants. Water lilies are a good choice because they offer cover and shade. So are hostas, ferns, wildflowers, etc. Another idea is to let the grass grow longer around the pond so it provides extra cover. The Wildlife Stewards at Oregon State University recommend using native plants that are submerged, floating or emergent.
- Don’t strive for a squeaky-clean pond. Although it may not look as picturesque, natural ponds are murkier because organic matter in the water helps to create more natural conditions. This also provides food for the frogs’ prey. Additionally, algae present in the pond act as nourishment for tadpoles.
- Adding extra shelter is simple and easy. Place a few clay plant pots on their side and partly bury them to provide additional shelter and shade. It’s important to remember that frogs like it damp and cool, so they’ll need places to hide from predators too.
- Keep potential predators at bay by containing cats and dogs with a wire fence around the pond area.
- Keep It Chemical Free. Fungi, fungus-prone plants, and pesticides can all damage frogs. You don’t want to use yard chemicals in your garden that may harm the frogs in the long term.
How to Make a Frog Pond in Your Backyard: Bottom Line
How to make a frog pond in your backyard? Building a frog pond is not difficult, but it does require some planning. You’ll need to research what type of native frog species are in your area and what their habitat needs are. Once you have that information, you can start building your pond and adding the plants and other features that will make it inviting for frogs. By following these guidelines, you can create a pond that is perfect for frogs and other wildlife.
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