Good neighbours come in all different species.
Do you remember catching toads when you were young? Now that you are a gardener you should try to encourage toads into your garden. Don’t think of toads as bumpy, ugly creatures, but as friendly neighbours.
Toads are one of the most beneficial creatures to reside to your garden. Each season they can consume garden pests and insects up to 3 times their own weight. Toads love a feast of cutworms, ants, June bugs, Japanese beetles, grasshoppers, centipedes, and slugs. Just look how this one blends in with the surroundings.
Toad abodes are a fun addition to your garden and the kids and grandkids will have lots of fun making them.
This first toad abode is made from an old clay pot. This one already had a large crack in it. I wet the pot and used a sharp knife to mark out where I wanted the break to come. Carefully break out the section. I glued the broken part at the top to make it look like a doorway. Using acrylic paint decorate your pot. Add a few artificial flowers and place in your garden. After being in the garden for several years this one needs some re-decorating so is in the workshop for new paint.
This toad house is made from a plastic plant pot, grout and some rocks. First cut a door way in the pot. Then cover the pot with grout and press in all those stones that the kids and/or grandkids have collected. The grout needs to be fairly thick for the rocks to stick in. Let dry at least 24 hours before setting in the garden.
A moist, shady area in your garden is a great spot to place the toad home. The ‘door’ of the toad house should face south. Don’t ask me why, I just discovered this while doing some research on toads. If you put some mulch around your shelter it provides moisture and food for toads.
These toad abodes are great projects to make for your garden.
lots more lens friends: birds in the garden … critters in the garden … water birds …whimsy in the garden
