Make Toad Abodes for your Garden

Here is a fun activity for yourself or your children to do.

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.

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.   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. The nocturnal toads will guard your garden in the evening.  Toads also can add their beautiful song to the quiet evening. Did you know that all toads (and frogs)  have a different song to communicate within their species? Sit outside on a warm, spring night and listen carefully and enjoy the serenade.

You need an old clay pot.  Carefully break/cut away an arched opening in the pot.   Mine already had a 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.  I added a window on the side with a vine creeping around it and a few silk flowers.  You can use stencils to add features to your pot or just create some freehand.

This toad house is made from a plant pot (either clay or plastic), 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 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. My inspiration for this toad home came from my efriend MichiganFroggy at Craftpals.

craftygardener.ca

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