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Frog habitat

phildigphildig Posts: 55
in Wildlife gardening
Hello and thank you for reading this message.
What is a good manmade habitat for frogs? I am replacing a quite large area of rotten decking in the garden. Underneath part, there is obviously home for a lot of frogs. 
What should I put under the new decking to recreate the habitat for the frogs?
Thank you. 

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I don't think you need to put anything.  They naturally find any damp dark place that they can snuggle into the soil. Absolutely the best thing would be a small pond with a shallow slope at one end so hedgehogs and other wildlife can get out if they fall in.  Plants around the edge will give them hidey holes.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    A good, spacious and damp log pile would help. Mine like it under hedges. I leave undergrowth so that there is good, cool cover, under the hedges. Wildlife likes places to be undistrubed and left alone. I have taken to putting logs and cut trunks under my hedges so this damp habitat that want it.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    You can put broken plant pots and logs etc, as well as having planting that creates shady spots, but, as the others have said, they just find places themselves  :)

    Mine squeezes himself under the hedgehog house - a 1 inch gap if you're lucky, despite it being next to the shed with it's 3 or 4 inch gaps, and the pots, and all the planting that would be 'perfect' as a hiding place.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    When I was doing some garden tidying in early spring, I disturbed a couple that were hiding under to long dead flower stems of Alchemillas :)
    They will always find some where to their liking unless you have a pristine garden and I don't think many of us would lay claim to that. I certainly can't and wouldn't want to. I'd never be able to relax in it!
  • FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
    When I trimmed my Camellias I put the leaves on the ground underneath as mulch, and the frogs seem to love that part of the garden now. 

    Dark, damp, soft ground with something they can hide underneath, is their heaven. 
  • The_herpetologistThe_herpetologist Posts: 481
    edited May 2020
    Frogs do ok for suitable locations at other times of the year, but really appreciate a place that ensures temperatures above freezing in winter. Males often settle in the silt at the bottom of ponds, but females overwinter out of the pond and are therefore more vulnerable. I have made a number of possible Frog-friendly areas in my garden, but by far the most popular are my well-rotted log pile and my compost heap. Both are guaranteed to accommodate multiple females and often males too. Both feature rotting organic matter which ensures that, even on the coldest winter nights, they stay well above freezing.
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