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I have a Back to Eden Garden on the edge of a swampy area, and am wondering if I'll likely get a lot of frogs and toads to do my pest management this year, or I'll have to do other things to aid in the management of the pests as I have a good supply (a choir) of toads, and frogs in the area.

black thumb
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Some frog "colonies" do migrate regularly over the same route. I used to live where there was an annual migration of a few miles between the ditches in farm land where they spawned and some small lakes where they lived (hibernated?) over winter. The route they took crossed a road, and twice a year there would be hundreds of squished frogs on the road for a few days, while they were migrating.

I don't know how they "learned" to take the same route every year though, so they might never find your swamp if it's new.

If you have some permanent water with water plants and weed, you could try "importing" some frog spawn from elsewhere if you know where to find some - but be aware some frog species are endangered and/or protected, so check whether this is legal.

Frogs seem quite happy to live in a damp area without permanent standing water (I have a few in my garden), though they can't breed without water for the eggs and tadpoles to live in.

I can't comment on the toads - I only remember seeing one toad in the wild in the last 50 or 60 years, so I don't have any information there!

alephzero
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  • We have plenty of american toads (caught them and released them all summer as a little kid), and frogs all over, and they even come up to the house to hang on our walls and windows at night. The water has been established for over 1,000,000 years, and we have plenty of natural environmental conditions for frogs/toads to establish their nests. – black thumb Feb 17 '19 at 13:10