1 Mar 2020

Toads are Friendly Neighbours

by | posted in: Garden Projects, Whimsy | 11

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.

I have two toad abodes for the garden, one made from a broken clay pot and another from a plastic pot and some stones.

toad houses at craftygardener.ca

During this past winter I’ve renovated/repaired numerous bits of garden whimsy and the clay pot toad house was one of them. The little flowers were long gone, the paint was chipped and faded and a few more cracks were noticeable.

toad houses at craftygardener.ca

First it had a new coat of paint, well a couple of coats to make it look fresh.

toad houses at craftygardener.ca

Then I added vines to the house. I now use permanent markers on some of my painted rocks and creations as I find you can get more fine detail and it dries a lot quicker than paint. Just beware as even though some markers say they are permanent they will bleed when a coat of sealer is added. The red ones are particular culprits.

toad houses at craftygardener.ca

After everything was dry I added a coat of glossy Mod Podge. Years ago when I started making garden whimsy I didn’t use and finish on them, so perhaps that aided in the general wear and tear and fading.

Now my toad abode is ready to go back into the garden and I’m looking forward to finding a good location to set it in hopes of the toads finding it. 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.

I really don’t think these toad abodes attract toads, but they make cute garden whimsy.

garden line

11 Responses

  1. Allyson
    |

    Very cute and whimsical! I need to make a couple of toad homes because we have two places where frogs hang out. I’ve visiting from Handmade Monday.

  2. Michelle
    |

    I love your toad abode! So cute! You are quite talented.

    Thanks for linking up to Creative Compulsions!
    Michelle

  3. lavender dreams
    |

    How cute! We have a lot of toads here too and they love to hide in the crevices of the house and gutters. You always do the cutest craft projects!

  5. Lydia F
    |

    What a cute project! I am looking forward to making toad houses with my grandsons. They will have a blast! Thanks for sharing with us at Creatively Crafty #ccbg

  6. Allie
    |

    How adorable! Very cute garden whimsy indeed. I’m sure these must add a lovely touch of charm to your garden.

  7. Margie
    |

    I echo the other comments about the adobe’s cuteness! If I were a toad, I’d move right in!

  11. Myrtle
    |

    I love them Linda. I would never have thought of a frog house. I actually thought I had posted her.

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