Not as pets per say, so much as co-residents, but can one buy froggies for the garden?

Yes you can buy frogs for your garden. Consider the climate, what is available in your neck of the woods for food and match it up to frogs that are available for sale. Frogs are wonderful for natural pest control and I love to listen to them. Google, frogs for sale, garden, natural pest control. You will find a fine variety of frogs.

Another possibility and one of my favorites is the praying mantis. They are truly fascinating to watch and also great for natural pest control. I gave an egg casing to a dentist friend. He left it in his house and the little devils hatched inside his house. Never heard the end of that one! They will be very hungry when they hatch and more apt to stick around the vicinity. Be sure to attach the egg cases to some plants that have small pests, an example aphids. Keep the egg cases a good distance from each other. Praying mantis don't mind eating their own. Since we left California and moved to South Dakota the mantis is no longer an option for me. Mantis egg cases can usually be bought in most any large garden store or online. Google, praying mantis, egg cases garden and so forth.

I had never thought of adding frogs to a garden. You read about certain bugs that eat invasive bugs but never frogs. How interesting. I guess a person learns something new everyday.

I think it is a wonderful idea. Since Jilly brought it up I have thought about it a great deal. I love listening to frogs. I want to go out to the big nursery on the outskirts of town to see if any frogs suitable for gardens that can survive this harsh environment.

What "natural" insect control have you tried?

I also love to listen to crickets when we go camping.

Here is a link to one place that sells frogs. Garden Frogs

Are you all thinking tree frogs or regular frogs? Both eat insects so I suppose either would work in a garden. Don't they need moisture? Food for thought, natural pest control. No chemicals, insecticides.

Hello everyone!

Lost my first post into the ether so if it turns up duplicated in anyway, Oh Dear as they say!

If you want to read some more froggy stuff please go to the WATER GARDENS forum for some recent chatter and you can also scroll down here and go to the CONTAINER GARDENING website and look under 'Attracting Wildlife' for an article I wrote some time ago - interesting info there too.

Now there is a thing - maybe for EARTHDAY this Sunday you will get a frog or two to come and share your space?

Cheers now,

This is awesome. I started a garden frog movement!! Yes, indeed, let's all make a plan to attract beneficial critters to our gardens for Earth Day this year.

I wonder how many topical forums we can spread this idea in? Ladies, start your engines!

Oh, and the code word is FROG. lol

I hope you don't mind Lestie, I am going to go look for the link for attracting wildlife. If the approaching thunderstorm doesn't scare me away from my office. A bit close to the window a little too high up. Just love thunder and lightening

I think this is an absolutely fascinating subject. I am going to attach your link to garden frogs if you object please yell, LOUD

We have bazillions of toad tadpoles during this time of the year. Then, they start running around the back yard and jumping around when we mow the lawn.

Here is my contribution! http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/757938/Frugal_Garden_Frogs#Post757938

Jilly, I can't seem to get to your link. If other's can't either try the backdoor approach. Frugal Living - Frugal Garden Frogs

This is too fascinating a subject to miss out!

Lestie Mulholland the BellaOnline editor from the Container Gardening Site has a splendid article under the subject of Attracting Wildlife. It couldn't be better!! You'll love it, check it out. There has been a tremendous amount of interest in this subject. There is a great deal of great information on gardening under Home and Garden. One of my favorite things to do is checking out and learning a GREAT deal from Bellaonline editors and the hundreds of subjects.

Enjoy Lestie's article. A wonderful way to celebrate Earth Day, putting this information to actual use.
Frogs and Garden Toads

I couldn't agree more Jilly. If everyone used this approach to gardening we'd have far fewer environmental issues. One example, the huge shortage of honey bees. We kill the honey bees with pesticides and end up starving ourselves by our shortsightedness. Want to learn more about the honey bee shortage? Honey Bees _ How to care for Honey Bees

A movement of frogs, sounds cool to me, have the FROGS pass the word to agricultural people; one example grape growers.

Cool, I am rounding up the links also. I will see if I can get Lisa helping out with us!

Connie hi!!! I use to spend hours watching tadpoles when I was a child. I was out to the preserve a few days ago. Then at the local park by the river. While I can hear the frogs I didn't see any tadpoles yet. It is pretty early here in South Dakota so maybe the next trip out. I did find a lot of insect larva be-bopping around. I took a photo but it did little good. Next time I'll take video lol.

If you live in a warm dry climate don't forget the bug eating lizards There was a greenhouse near where we lived. You would see reptiles all over the place taking good care the insects. The kids loved it.

I really like how the editors work together. It seems like you all get along pretty well. The garden frog idea is a great idea for Earth Day. A good way to promote awareness.

There are many beneficial lifeforms that control an over population of garden pests. The frogs are wonderful, lady bugs, wasps, praying mantis, even skunks.

Every animal including the wild skunk is your friend and a very crucial part of our ecosystem. They kill garden pests that destroy your garden; you know the grubs and snails, and the rest of the insects that find your vegetables before you do! Our friend the skunk also controls populations of cockroaches, mice and rats from breeding rampantly. Look at the areas that have become overgrown with human population driving the wildlife away; many of these areas have serious pest problems that can cause horrific diseases to spread with no control. The skunk can also control populations of rattlesnakes, and poisonous bugs like the black widow spider and scorpions. Striped Skunk - Wild skunk

Good heavens Diana no no no, I would be very pleased and you are most welcome! Even if one more frog found a really nice leafy hideaway as a result of our chatter and connections and combined knowledge and experience that would be a winner!

I love Jill's saying "come on ladies, start your engines!" Powerful stuff that when you unleash the strength we have on Bellaonline. Something like this just can't be beat. And of course I do not leave out or ignore the men authors and writers and posters much muscle there too!

Thunder and lightning storms are a favourite here for me and we do get violent summer storms usually late afternoon here in Johannesburg (and all and all) and the positive ions in the air afterwards give such energy and clean breathing and calm and wowyzowy that I love them ... as scary as they can be. Still, our rain has sort of finished as much as the sky was grumbling this afternoon, we are on our way to winter (no rain usually here on the Highveld) and these crisp autumn days are just too beautiful for words. Wish I could export some to you all for you to have some too.

Kermit knew a thing or too as did Miss Piggy -

Cheers now

Jilly is just plain downright neat. She is a motivator. I dearly love your personality Lestie. I doubt if I have ever read a post of yours without grinning from ear to ear. Yes, we do have a tremendous amount of power and influence, we need to use that as just and right as possible.


Thunderstorms. I do love to watch and listen to them. We camp quite a bit and we have been in some Oklahoma major storms in a tent. My husband sleeps right through them. I push the sides of the tent back out. I can't see what is going on outside, so if there is a tornado I'd have no idea. Come to think of it, we have been in some pretty severe storms while camping here too.

Ah Diana, now do I have to pay you more? For saying such nice things I mean? Okay, go to the smiley office immediately and collect your dues! Keep grinning and ... talking of serendipity -you will just have to believe it but it's 12h07 on Friday 20th April (my bedtime and more), and on the radio they are playing that favourite tune 'Smile'. Thanks muchly for the big one you just gave me!

Cheers now

The song on the radio station brought a happy shiver, wow. Sometimes, with good friends, life just doesn't get any better

Back to chasing my happy robust ants with ground clove. This just doesn't seem to be working lol.

Hey there,

Haven't been following that thread re the ants but have you tried ordinary talcum powder? It works for me.

Cheers

I don't suppose corn starch will work? Oh well, worth a try. No, I don't. I'll have to get some. They are really sneaky this year. I build barriers they won't cross and they find a new way through. They use to come from the top of the counters backs, now they are sneaking along the bottom edge, coming in on top of the built-in dishwasher. I even LIKE ants just not in my kitchen Maybe an anteater?

I am trying to find particles of my memories of companion planting. I am going to put the sugar peas in lines on each side of the Goji berries. The Snap peas will be done before the Goji's are too big to need the space. In the mean
time sense they are of the pea family, therefore a legume. They will be giving the spoil rich oxygen. Companion planting. Add a few beneficial amphibian, reptiles, and such the berries should be perfect! One more small problem to keep my squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits from snacking as fast as they can munch.

My gojis are going to grow faster than your goji's. I am going to have rabbit munching problems too. They even eat my roses. I don't mind that so much because they can only reach so far. Are you goji berry vines as small as mine? Such tiny little plants came from 4 Seasons. Plus, one is broken up pretty badly.

I am going to transplant some raspberries today. If you want some I have quite a few suckers.

You are right about companion planting. You can scare some bugs away by planting basil, garlic. Yes, planting legumes enriches the soil with oxygen and other good and wonderful things. I still have a bunch of mulched leaves I covered the plants with. Get some leave mold going. Plus it will keep moisture in and weeds down.

Yesterday I ran into a goldmine of frogs. We had some heavy rains. We went for a drive in the country. Many of the farm fields and areas next to the road are flooded. (We have had heavy flooding the last four years, not too bad this year - yet) There was the beautiful chorus of croakers all over the place. By the sounds of things, it will only be a short while before there will be plenty of tadpoles.

I would think these choruses would make good mosquitoes eaters. Which spread disease. Hmm wonder if they eat ticks? Happy healthy frogs with an appetite are sounding better and better.

Thanks for the nice words, you two! I really like you both also. Being here in this community is such a treat.

I have used diatomaceous earth to keep out ants. It works better than borax for me and is nicer/safer to use. Use the food grade kind from feed stores. It has hundreds of uses. See my thread in Frugal Living about DE for more info.

I used to use diatomaceous earth on my roses, years ago. I had forgotten all about it. I'll have to see if our little town has any food grade, or else I'll look online. Thanks for the reminder.

I think we are very lucky to have our online community, editors, members, and guests. I have made some real special friends. BellaOnline seems to attract the best in humanity.

Hello all,

I have never heard of diatomaceous earth! And there I am one of the gardening editors! Maybe I know it as something different or it has a different name? but I don't think so. I just don't know about it.

Will start to learn and read up of course, and if you know of another name by which it is called or known, please help further. Will start by reading Jill's articles and go from there.

Thanks for the lessons Bellaonline!

Cheers

Here is the link to my diatomaceous earth thread in the frugal living forum.

I use the forum as a sort of blog for myself, while I do research and experiment with ways of living frugally. Eventually I turn my ideas into articles, but for now the posts have most of the information about concepts I am developing.

Most towns have a feed store - a five pound bag goes a long way. Don't get the pool kind - it has to be food grade.

Anyway, there is a LOT covered in that thread. Hope to see you there!

Diana, i added your skunk link to my frugal froggies thread.

I spent some time looking for places online for food grade DE. It is horribly expensive, the feed store is no doubt the way to go. Thank you for bringing up the topic. I hadn't thought about looking in feed stores though they do use it in farm animal feed to control parasites.


And thank you for adding the skunk link, they are so beneficial to the environment, as well as being some of the coolest animals on earth