Frogs the Best Natural Method to Get Rid of Garden Insects/ Pests

Frogs and toads are natures way of getting rid of insects and pests from your garden. Did you know that in a three month period they can eat up to 10,000 insects.

List of insects that frogs and toads eat.

• Cutworms that cut off the base of young and tender plants.
• Rose Chafers damage grape, strawberry and raspberry fruit. They also eat the petals on roses and peonies.
• Rose beetles do a real number on your roses. They can actually destroy your rose plant. You will end up with deformed flower buds that fail to open. Stem tips will be chewed and leaves will have holes in them.
• Squash bugs will eat on the leaves and later on the fruit of pumpkins and squash.
• Caterpillars eat a variety of plants. For instance the Swallowtail caterpillar will eat parsley, dill, celery, cilantro, parsnip and carrots. They are ravenous eaters and the damage to plants and vegetables will be very noticeable.
• Sow/Pill Bugs is seedlings and strawberries. They are beneficial when they break dead plant matter into smaller bits but I could do without them feasting on my strawberries.
• Potato Beetles can totally eliminate your potato, eggplant and tomato crop.
• Winter moth larvae feed on buds of trees in the spring.
• Flies can cause crop loss through direct feeding or transmit plant diseases.
• Mosquito are a pest to anyone trying to work in the garden and may carry diseases.
• Slugs will feed on root crops like carrots and potatoes. They will also dine on fruit and tender leaves of plants.

Where do you find frogs?

Frogs and toads can be found at the edges of ponds and swamps. You will need to pen them up for a few days because they will naturally try to return home.

How to build a shelter for frogs and toads.

A clay flower pot is the perfect home for a frog or toad. Place the pot upside down and make a small hole on the side of the flower. Bury the pot upside down several inches into the ground in a shady spot of your garden. make sure to put a shallow pan of water out for the frog and toads or containers of water with rocks and sticks. Make sure that you change the water on a regular basis you don’t want it to become a nursery for mosquitoes.

Frogs and toads are one way of ridding your garden of harmful pests and insects. It is a way nature helps to provide a balance and contribute to pest management. Plus you get the added bonus of seeing the frogs and toads hop about and hear them which should bring back childhood memories.