How do i attract amphibians to my garden?

[Kayleigh]

Grow some ivy up the wall they will be able to climb up it then..

[King Edward]

A pond is definitely the first thing to aim for. Doesn't have to be very big to attract amphibians, and not too deep (especially if it's small). 18" in the centre would be plenty deep enough, 12" might be better for a small one, with lots of shallow margins 6" or less. Even a shallow pond 1m2 in area might attract breeding Frogs and Smooth Newts assuming they can get in through/under the fence.

Frogs are apparently attracted by the smell of Duckweed, so a bit of that wouldn't do any harm.

[GCN lova]

thnx!

ive just found out there are 4 common (?) lizards in my garden who love to bathe on the fence. would they be a problem for the amphibians if they come?

ive got some pics so you can correct me about the species.



lizard (female?) basking. i took many photos but uploaded the best. soz for the quality as i used my dsi.

[GCN lova]

BTW, i dont know where the closest water body is but i know a place where there are supposed to be amphibians but it's quite far from sittingbourne

[dampflippers]

No I don't think there would be a problem from predation because lizards hunt during the day and newts at night.
They like different habitats though.

There are some useful leaflets to look at here on the Natural Englan website:
Natural England - Natural England Booklets on Wildlife Gardening

[GCN lova]

thnx,

i hope to build a pond a few months from now. also, i would like a wildlife garden which will include: a wildlife pond, rockery, log pile and patch of wildflowers. do any of you guys have any ideas? it will include include a small bog garden beside it for terrestrial amphibians and grass snakes. i hope to attract some amphibians; if not introduce some newt larvas and tadpoles.

however, i think there maybe one problem. there were loads of spiders and other bugs in our garden but when i saw lizards around, i haven't seen any since, except for a few tiny miniscule ones which i first thought were ants and occasionally a beetle. and i spend like three quarters of the day in the garden. if the common lizards have thinned the insect population this much, will it affect the amphibians? i haven't exactly been checking properly but i havent seen much.

[dampflippers]

If you build a pond with lots of plants in and around, lots of other planting in the garden, compost heap, logpile perhaps, then you will get alot more invertebrates and other creatures for all hungry garden inhabitants.
You just need to create an ideal wildlife habitat in at least a corner in your garden and you will be amazed what turns up.