Hop to it! How to make a frog pond in your garden

Why make a frog pond?

If you’re keen to attract native wildlife to your home garden, you’ve probably thought about birds, butterflies and bees, and perhaps lizards. But have you considered frogs? It’s not such an outlandish idea, even in a dry climate like South Australia.

Frogs are important parts of ecosystems, particularly to keep nutrients circulating between freshwater and land. Tadpoles eat pond algae, frogs eat insects, and frogs, their eggs and tadpoles are all food for other wildlife. Around it goes!

Across the world, the existence of frogs is threatened by habitat loss, pollution, and introduced predators. You can give our amphibious friends a hand by creating a frog-friendly garden.

A front yard frog pond in suburban Adelaide

When CJ and her family moved to their home in the Unley area in 2018, they were thrilled that the previous owners had created a thriving native front garden, including a frog pond. 

The pond is formed with a liner anchored by rocks, and teems with native and exotic water plants and edge plantings. 

It has two parts: one small and shallow, and the larger part a couple of metres long and reaching a depth of more than a metre.

CJ kindly answered a few of our curious questions:

What kind of frogs does your pond attract?

CJ: The one we hear most is the common froglet. I’m sure I’ve heard the Mount Lofty Ranges tree frog as well, and the one we love best, which we hear the least often, is the spotted marsh frog. We tend to hear them more in winter.

Are the frogs loud?

CJ: The first night we were here in the house, I was beyond tired. Our bedroom is one of the front rooms of the house, and I lay there exhausted and the frogs started up. I thought I would never get to sleep and that we’d made the most enormous mistake buying this house. And then by the third night, it was just like a lullaby.

Within a week or two there was one night, which I now realise was full moon, and there was no frog noise. My husband said, ‘I can’t hear the frogs, are the frogs alright?’ We were so worried about the frogs!

What happens at the full moon?

CJ: We learnt that the frogs are less likely to call at the full moon because they’re more likely to be picked up by predators, if they’re making themselves known when it’s light.

Is the pond hard to maintain?

CJ: We have to weed the pond – the plant growth is pretty healthy. 

One of the instructions from the previous owners was to get in there once a year and clean all the muck out. 

There's a gum tree right above it and that puts a lot of leaf litter in. I'll be honest, I think I've probably done it two or three times in the eight years we've been here.

How about topping up the water?

In the summer, we do notice the evaporation and we have to top it up. We use rain water when we can, but the previous owner told us tap water is fine*. 

The pond’s big enough that it’s okay - the main thing we try not to do is put an enormous amount in at one time.

*Note: choose rainwater wherever possible, and check on the SA Water website to find out about tapwater treatment in your area, and note the recommendations for aquariums, ponds and fish tanks.

You don’t have a fountain or any fish in the pond. Are mosquitoes a problem?

We like to think the frogs keep the mozzies down because we've never really had mozzie problems, nothing like we had at our old house. 

So the natural balance of the ecosystem in there is actually really good, I think.

Keen to hop into creating your own frog pond? Here’s what you need.

Semi-shaded site

Find (or create) a spot that is about two-thirds shaded throughout the day. 

Too bright and your pond will grow too much algae, but a bit of sun will give tadpoles the warmth they need to develop properly.

Hole

Setting your frog pond into the ground will help keep the water temperature more stable. 

It also means other creatures like lizards will have easy access for a drink.

Your pond should hold at least a cubic metre of water. It's preferable to have areas of different depths for a variety of habitat. 

Check with your local council for any regulations about water features.

(Safety note! If young children can access your pond, you should install a strong mesh grid above or just below the water level, so they can’t fall in.) 

Waterproof lining

For example, you could use pond liner, a fibreglass pond shell or an old bathtub.

Water plants

A variety of water plants means food for tadpoles, healthier water conditions and places for frogs to lay eggs and be able to climb in and out of the water.

Look for native options local to your area – ask at State Flora or your local native plant nursery.

‘Emergent’ plants like reeds, rushes and sedges live around the edges of ponds with their roots submerged, and send up long leaves above the water. 

These include knobby club-rush (Ficinia nodosa), swamp club-rush (Isolepsis inundata), sea rush (Juncus krausii), toad rush (Juncus bufonius), and spiny flat-sedge (Cyperus gymnocaulos).

In the pond, try species like curly pondweed (Potamogeton crispis), nardoo (Marsilea mutica), shiny swamp-mat (Goodenia radicans), water milfoil (Myriophyllum crispatum), and duckweed (Lemna species) – with a note of caution that duckweed may need to be kept under control so it doesn’t dominate.

Submerged soil

Those water plants will need soil to grow in, and you have a few options. You can keep them in submerged pots, which you may need to weigh down with a few stones. 

Use bricks or rocks if you need to raise the pots up.

You could add a layer of garden soil at the bottom of your pond, which will eventually all settle (top off with gravel if you like).

Or you can fill a hessian sack with soil and rocks for weight, cut holes to insert your plants, and lower the whole thing into the water.

Ramp

Frogs and small animals need structures to help them easily climb in and out of the water. Plants are helpful, but also create a solid structure with rocks or large sticks.

Frogs

The theory here is ‘build it and they will come’. Check that you have provided all the right ingredients for habitat, and have some patience.

It is illegal to take frogs, eggs or tadpoles from the wild.

It’s not just about the pond

You may be surprised to learn that frogs actually spend most of their lives out of the water. 

Your garden around the pond is just as important as the pond itself: it’s where adult frogs will find food and shelter.

Hiding places

Frogs like to hide in dark, damp places like under old logs and in piles of rocks, and amongst leaf litter, mulch, grasses, groundcovers, shrubs and reeds. 

These are the sorts of places they’ll also find bugs to eat. If you love a tidy, manicured garden, perhaps a frog pond is not for you!

Avoid garden chemicals

Pesticides and fertilisers should be avoided – frogs are very sensitive to chemicals, and they need a healthy insect population for food.

Start digging!

Hop into it and get your frog pond started! Here are some more resources to help and discover more about our local frogs:

Creating a wildlife friendly garden in Adelaide: Frogs at home (Green Adelaide)

Frogs from the Mount Lofty Ranges ID chart

Frogs in SA | FrogWatch SA

Thanks to Steve Walker for his frog expertise and to CJ for sharing her pond story.

(Main image: Mount Lofty Ranges tree frog, photo by Steve Walker.)