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Shelter | Food | The Pond | Mosquitoes
Recent wet weather has brought out the frogs. Not the cacophony of times past but the occasional "croak" to remind us they are still there, albeit in greatly reduced numbers.
By providing frog refuges on our property we can help restore depleted native frog populations. Even a small garden can be made frog-friendly if their simple requirements - shelter, food and moisture, are taken into account.
A garden pond will encourage native frogs to visit (especially in the mating season) and provide an environment for rearing tadpoles, but a pond is only part of the total amphibian habitat. The mature frog spends almost all of their time on land and do well where there is a diversity of vegetation, ample ground cover and moist hiding places
Frogs feed at night and require plenty of damp places to shelter during the day. Clumps of dense foliage extending down to the ground and a scattering of moist or mossy shelters - hollow logs, piles of dead timber, mulch, compost heaps, slabs of bark, upturned planter saucers etc. will create "frog paradise".
The places that shelter frogs also provide hiding places for the insect upon which they prey as long as the area is free of pesticides.
Not only do pesticides greatly reduce the frog's food sourc, frogs absorb contaminants thru their skin and are very sensitive to poisonous chemicals. Insecticides, weed killers and artificial fertilisers are not compatible with a healthy frog environment.
The frog pond is best situated in partial shade and where it will not receive polluting runoff.
The ideal frog pond will be graduated in depth with gently sloping edges and surrounded by a diversity of sheltering plants.
A simple pond can be created using a plastic liner available by the metre from most nurseries .
An ideal pond would be at least 1.5 m. diameter, with stepped levels to a maximum depth of around 60 cm., but smaller ponds are also effective.
The excavated hole is lined with several centimetres of damp sand and the plastic is moulded in as smoothly as possible ensuring there is adequate plastic to come up well over the rim. Fill the pond, note the overflow point, and anchor the lining around the rim with rocks. Draw the liner up against the outer edge of the stones and pack firmly with soil. This helps prevent any potentially polluting runoff from entering the pond.
Aquatic plants such as Nardoo and water lilies provide shelter for the tadpoles and act as water purifiers. Those with the bulk of their foliage under the water are the best purifiers. Keep plants restricted to about 1/3 of the pond surface. A marsh zone can be created around the edges with plantings of rushes and sedges.
Plants can be planted directly into soil but are easier to control if planted in pots submerged in the pond. Avoid proclaimed noxious weeds such as Alligator weed andwater hyacinth.
Frogs will help reduce mosquito numbers, however, if mosquitoes are breeding in the pond it may be necessary to introduce several small native fish to eat the larva. Pacific Blue eye (Pseudomugil signifer) the Fly Specked hardy Head (Craterocephalus stercusmuscarum) and the Australian Smelt (Retropinna semoni.) are three species native to the east coast which will keep a pond clear of larva. However they will also eat tiny tadpoles and it willbe necessary to hold spawn in a separate container until the tadpoles have hatched and are several weeks old to avoid them being eaten too.
References:
Ev Pettigrew