Don’t frighten my frogs!

By Victoria Plum

With the rank growth of everything this year, parts of my garden truly resemble a jungle – unlike those gardens where the gardener welcomes you to their immaculate plot with a throwaway comment that it’s “a bit of a jungle”, when what they really mean is that the grass hasn’t been cut for two days, and there might be a bedding plant or cabbage that has escaped its row.

Lush growth means there is lots of cover in my garden; blackbirds shuffle about and complain if I get too close; there are mysterious scramblings in the ivy and under the fig trees.

Often it is frogs: I can track where they have been because they carry duckweed on their skin and leave it lingering in any rain-filled water tray.

Frogs have made themselves at home in my latest “wildlife” (that just means no-fish-allowed) pond.

I have tried to ensure there are many escape routes, and plenty of “safe houses” for them to hide from dogs, cats (not mine, I now choose not to keep cats because of the many small creatures they kill) and small children.

Broken terracotta pots give low shelter, and I have also used black plastic flowerpots, upside down, with “doorways” cut and gently embedded in the soil just enough to hold them firm.

I always cut three holes so nothing can get trapped by an enemy. I never look inside or move them once in place just to ensure it is a “safe house”.

So, I am pleased that the frogs are “at home” in my garden.

But with the upcoming visit of small boys who love to dabble in the water, I was getting ready to shout, “don’t frighten my frogs!”, when it occurred to me that it is important that these children be allowed, or even encouraged, to catch frogs because the excitement and intimacy of touching a wild creature will stay with them forever.

The froggy trauma of being held for a second in a small boy’s hand before a leap for the undergrowth is hopefully the least of a frog’s worries.

So now my frogs become part of a training programme to understand and respect wild creatures, an investment for the safe and happy future of all frogs.

I hope to see you at the next real Reepham & District Gardening Club meeting on 21 September at 7.45 pm in Reepham Town Hall, Church Street, Reepham. The speaker is Robin McDonald talking about botanic and other gardens around the world.

Check the website for up-to-date information about the gardening club’s activities.

Photo: Tina Sutton