If you want your garden to provide a home to nature, then a great way of doing this is to create a pond, if you do not already have one. It does not matter what size your garden is, wildlife will be just as likely to visit a smaller garden as a larger one. It is best to have a place that has both sun and shade during the day.
Spring is the time of the year when the natural world bursts back into life and there is nothing more rewarding than watching life unfold in your own back garden. By early February, you will begin to hear the distinctive call of the male frogs, calling to potential mates ready to lay the frogspawn. Frogspawn is food for the dragonfly larvae and the newts that live in the pond, which is why female frogs lay hundreds of eggs – most of them end up as dinner for the ponds other inhabitants!
If you have a pond or are thinking of building your own and you want to help the frogs survival rates, then fist of all do not move any spawn that you come across. One of the most important factors that helps to increase survival rates of the frogspawn is vegetation around the edge of the pond. This provides a good hiding place, so the eggs won’t be detected by predators as easily. Plants are very important to the pond as they do not only provide vital shelter to the young frogs, but also add oxygen to the water – a crucial ingredient for pond life to thrive! A pond with shallow edges is best, as this means that frogs can get in and out of the pond easily – if you already have a pond that does not have shallow edges, build a frog ramp – a piece of wood works well for this.
Sadly, the common frog is no longer as common as it once was. Due to habitat destruction there are far fewer frogs than there once were in Britain, so you would not only be creating a beautiful garden haven, but also assisting with the conservation of one of Britain’s most famous amphibians. Ponds are a lovely garden addition and can be made to look really beautiful with the addition of a water feature or a sculpture from Corten metal sculptures http://www.afsculpture.uk/portfolio_page/corten-metal-sculptures/ – this makes a pond a real garden feature.
