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Attracting toads/frogs to your garden

Frogs and other amphibians are important creatures, essential to our ecosystem. Providing them with a safe space in your garden is a great way to support their numbers while also gain the benefits of their pest-eating tendencies.

The best way to encourage frogs to visit your garden is by building a pond. Ponds are vital for amphibians as they are where they reproduce. Frogs rely on a network of ponds so that they can move safely between habitats, so the more ponds in your neighborhood that are readily available, the better.

There are a few key things to remember when building a pond:

Build your pond in an area with partial sun/partial shade and make it around 60cm deep.
Ensure at least one side of your pond slopes to a shallow area, to allow frogs to enter safely. If this isn’t possible, adding a ramp or stones and rocks (which the frogs can use as ‘stepping stones’) works too.
Provide vital cover around the pond edges with plants, rocks and vegetation. These areas will also work as habitats for wildlife visiting the pond.
Steer clear of introducing fish into your pond – they eat frogspawn and tadpoles and therefore should be avoided if you’re looking to make a pond for frogs.

Toads/ Frogs like damp, cool spots and therefore need access to areas nearby the pond where they can hide away from the sun and potential predators. Give them places to hide by creating messy areas full of leaves, log piles and vegetation. Alternatively, placing some plant pots on their sides and partially burying them will provide much-needed shelter for any frogs visiting your garden. Chemicals are a big no-no if you want to attract frogs to your garden. This is because frogs breathe and drink through their skin, so they are particularly sensitive to toxic chemicals. As frogs eat the majority of pests anyway, there is no need for pesticides in a frog-friendly garden.

Why attract frogs/ toads to the garden?

By attracting frogs and other amphibians to your garden, you are effectively providing them with a place to live and breed. While frogs might seem in abundance in certain areas, their numbers are actually in decline due to loss of breeding habitat – many ponds are often filled for building development. By building a pond in your garden you can help bring those numbers up and encourage biodiversity.

Another benefit of attracting frogs to your garden is that they are excellent pest-eaters. Frogs, newts, and toads are all brilliant at gobbling up slugs, snails and other invertebrates, so you can count on them to keep your garden pest-free.

Adding a frog house to the garden can help keep your little frogs stay safe. Place it on bare ground out of direct sunshine, near a pond or damp area of the garden. Many amphibians will also appreciate the addition of moss or stones to the inside of the house to keep it cool and humid.

You can find several frog house ideas on Pinterest, you can follow our Gardening board to see ideas!

Frogs like damp, cool spots and therefore need access to areas nearby the pond where they can hide away from the sun and potential predators. Give them places to hide by creating messy areas full of leaves, log piles and vegetation. Alternatively, placing some plant pots on their sides and partially burying them will provide much-needed shelter for any frogs visiting your garden. Chemicals are a big no-no if you want to attract frogs to your garden. This is because frogs breathe and drink through their skin, so they are particularly sensitive to toxic chemicals. As frogs eat the majority of pests anyway, there is no need for pesticides in a frog-friendly garden.

Why attract frogs to the garden?

By attracting frogs and other amphibians to your garden, you are effectively providing them with a place to live and breed. While frogs might seem in abundance in the UK, their numbers are actually in decline due to loss of breeding habitat – many ponds are often filled for building development. By building a pond in your garden you can help bring those numbers up and encourage biodiversity.

You can find several frog house ideas on Pinterest, you can follow our Gardening board to see ideas!

Black House Plants

Feeling Goth or Dark Chic? Plants of darker shade have an exotic appearance that appeals to many people. If you are among those who are attracted to black plants, then having one indoors can definitely bring a little dark drama in your home.

The dark purple variegated foliage crisscrossed by red stems make this plant a showstopper. This rare peperomia variety likes partial shade and not too much water. You should also avoid frequent re potting, but do make sure it has enough room to grow.

Unlike most leafy houseplants, this is a slow-growing plant, and it will usually remain compact, which makes it perfect for small spaces such as windowsills or desks.

However, if you do set it on a windowsill, make sure it’s not a south-facing one. Keeping the plant in relative shades prevents it from becoming bleached. There are over 1000 cultivars of peperomia, so hunting for your desired color combo might turn into quite an adventure.

Aeonium “Black rose” will thrive in full sun and well-drained soil.

While you can give it water once a week during long and sunny summer days, aeonium should be allowed to rest during winter, so it’s best to reduce watering to once a month. However, don’t let it go thirsty for too long, because it might start losing lower leaves around the rosettes if it dries out too much. Make sure you check the soil before watering it, if the soil is dry to the middle of the container, then its time to water it. Aeonium can grow up to 30 cm (12 inches) tall, though it rarely reaches this length when it is grown indoors. The dark burgundy rosette needs at least a few hours of full sun to keep its dark appearance, so if you’re growing it in the shade, aeonium will turn reddish-purple.

Alocasia plants thrive outdoors, and they make excellent statement pieces in a garden. Their thick-veined and almond-shaped leaves can get very large in a south-facing garden. Lately, alocasia plants, also known as “elephant ears,” are becoming popular as indoor plants. Unfortunately, this comes with the undesired side-effect of making them hard to find in stores or from online retailers.

If you can’t find the black velvet plant , then I would suggest buying Alocasia Polly instead – its dark green foliage is beautiful and the plant is much easier to find online.

Alocasias will thrive in a warm and humid environment, so placing it close to a cooking area – or the shower – might be your best bet to keep this plant happy.

Begonia “Black fancy” will not break your heart. In fact, it will reward you with light-pink flowers in early spring. Like all begonias, it does best in bright light in a warm and humid spot (if you keep it indoors, that is). This rhizomes hybrid with medium sized black leaves will stay compact and bushy, if you pinch the flowers once they’re spent.

So when you want to add a little drama to your indoor plants try one of these cool black dramatic houseplants for any room.

Top 5 Air purifying house plants

Did you know in 1989, NASA, discovered that houseplants can absorb harmful toxins from the air, especially in enclosed spaces with little air flow. This study has been the basis for newer studies about indoor plants and their air cleaning abilities. While plants have less horse power than air purifiers, they’re more natural, cost effective, and therapeutic.

Plants are also known to:

increase mood and productivity
enhance concentration and memory
reduce stress and fatigue

Household chemicals come from objects and materials like:

carpets
glues
ovens
cleaning solutions
synthetic materials such as plastic, fiber, and rubber

You’ll benefit the most when you include a variety of plants in a room.

Here are my top five indoor plants that can help you breathe better inside.

Pothos or golden Pothos, is an easy houseplant that will fight off common household toxins. It adds instant color to any room with cascading tendrils and grows well in water, pots and hanging baskets. The heart leaf philodendron can remove toxins such as; xylene, benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene.

Spider plants are the perfect choice for newbies and those with a bad track record when it comes to plants. They thrive in indirect sunlight and survive in just about any condition (they’ve been known to survive in temperatures as low as 2 degrees). Spider plants also send out shoots of baby spider plants called spiderettes. This plant removes toxins such as; formaldehyde and xylene.

This easy-to-grow fern is known for its sword-shaped fronds which makes it perfect for a hanging basket or pedestal. The Boston Fern thrives in humid environments and requires consistent moisture. Keep them happy with regular misting, moist soil and position them in indirect sunlight near windows, balconies and patios. In winter cut the fronds back by around 2-inches to help regenerate and grow in the warmer months. This plant removes toxins such as; formaldehyde and xylene.

Snake Plant otherwise known as Mother-in-Law’s Tongue is a succulent plant that can grow up to two meters in height. It is a low maintenance plant that is hardy and thrives on neglect. Place them in somewhere tolerating bright even direct light for a couple of hours a day. Be careful not to over water as they thrive in dry conditions. This plant can remove toxins such as; formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, benzene.

You might recognize English ivy as the climber on many walls and trees outdoors but NASA claims that it is the number one indoor houseplant when it comes to its air purifiers. They grow well in small pots and prefer to be crowded. They look great in hanging baskets and you can even propagate a cutting in water in just a few days. This beautiful plant removes toxin such as; formaldehyde and benzene.

Now that you’ve chosen your plants, it’s time to start looking for fun, decorative pots to sit them in like checking out Printhousedesign.com on Etsy. These cool planters are for smaller plants, but you can always message the shop and request for them to print a larger planter for a small fee.

Bees and Sunflowers

Want to help save the bees? Start planting sunflowers in your yard.

Bees are responsible for pollinating around 30% of the world’s crops and 90% of the world’s wild plants, according to the National Resources Defense Council, and they’re a vital asset to our global food production. So how can we help these flying pollinators out and finally save the bees?

Planting bee-friendly flowers is definitely an easy way to help keep our buzzing friends alive, and the sunflower is the perfect option for a summertime plant. They’re rich in nectar, and are the perfect color to attract bees.

Sunflowers need optimal sunlight—around six to eight hours a day—and thrive when they grow in hot summer climates. According to The Farmer’s Almanc, the bright yellow blooms prefer well-dug, loose, well-draining soil, and they thrive in slightly acidic to somewhat alkaline soil. The plants also need plenty of room—they can grow to be up to 12 feet tall, after all.

The bright, large flower heads of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus and cultivars) present a nectar and pollen mother lode for their pollinators, which are bees of all kinds. … Bees go from flower to flower within the disc, becoming covered with pollen. They then pollinate other sunflowers as they go from plant to plant.

There are many excellent varieties for bees, but if you want the best, go with the Lemon Queen. What makes this sunflower different is its tendency to branch. From one seed, a Lemon Queen can produce as many as twenty flowers!

Printhousedesign.com also carries sunflower seed packets to help you start your sunflower garden for the bees.

Planting a Butterfly Garden

If you’ve been missing monarchs recently, a large part of the problem can be blamed on the crashing butterfly population. A wicked trifecta of herbicides, habitat loss, and extreme weather is making it impossible for the monarchs to catch a break.

I am here to help you get down the basics, so your butterfly garden gets off to a flying start. If I was starting a new monarch butterfly garden, these are the essential tips, tools, and techniques I would implement to start seeing more monarchs this season.

If you have any questions after reading this post, please post them in comments at the bottom of this page.

Before you start creating your monarch butterfly garden, it’s important to research some basic info to help guide your garden decisions.

Where do monarchs live? Monarch butterflies are found across North America wherever suitable feeding, breeding, and overwintering habitat exists. They are broken into two populations separated by the Rocky Mountains, called the eastern and the western populations. https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Invertebrates/Monarch-Butterfly#:~:text=Monarch%20butterflies%20are%20found%20across,eastern%20and%20the%20western%20populations.

Not all plants require the same soil conditions, but many butterfly plants prefer well-drained soil that’s rich in organic matter. Compost is an excellent additive for increasing organic matter in your soil. For plants with uncommon soil requirements you can amend the soil in that area, or consider potting the plant. Research soil requirements for all your plants. This gives you the best chance to grow thriving plants!

Milkweed is the cornerstone of a successful butterfly garden and planting a mix of both native and non-invasive annuals will entice more monarchs to enter your garden gates. These varieties are utilized as both host plant for caterpillars and a nectar source for butterflies.

Tip: all milkweed varieties should be planted in groups of at least six plants. Otherwise, there is a good chance your monarch caterpillars will run out of milkweed!

1. Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed) offers pretty pink blooms and a sweet vanilla scent. It’s native across most of the US and parts of Canada

2. Asclepias speciosa (showy milkweed) has deep pink, fragrant flowers with a star shaped white center. It’s native to the western half of the US and Canada

Top Nectar Plants

Now that you’ve satisfied those hungry caterpillars, here are some nectar plants to give your garden instant butterfly appeal:

Eutrochium (joe pye weed)

This native perennial unleashes pink blooms in mid-late summer that monarchs, other butterflies, and bees go wild over. I’ve heard positive reports on several species including Eutrochium purpureum (sweet joe pye weed) and Eutrochium maculatum’gateway’ (spotted joe pye weed), which we grow in Minnesota.

Buddleja Buzz is compact, non-invasive and it attracts butterflies. It’s also supposed to be colder hardy for the north. It’s the only variety we’ve planted that hasn’t succumbed to Minnesota winter. Colder climates should mulch with leaves in fall, take fall cuttings, or overwinter to insure your crop. Buzz comes in a variety of vibrant colors including purple, sky blue, white, hot raspberry, and more. Grows to 4 feet.

Potted plants save space and allow you to bring the butterflies closer for convenient viewing. We pot mostly tropical plants, so we can easily bring them indoors to overwinter…

This lets you start the season with large tropical plants! Lantana plants grow well in pots if you’re looking for ideas. You can also pot small perennials like May Night Salvia.

Starting a monarch butterfly garden is an exciting journey that yields great rewards if you’re patient and persistent.