Frogs.

What’s not to like. Little hoppity fellas.

Who didn’t love Kermit, or play Frogger. And of course all glory to the Hypnotoad.

But it’s not all fun and games. Frogs can be dangerous to keep around if you have pets or small children, also if you have an outdoor pool they can get trapped and you can wake up to a pool of dead frogs you have to deal with (gross!).

Also they can multiply quite quickly given the correct conditions and some species sure can make a lot of racket.

That is why in this post we are going to look at why you get frogs, how to get rid of frogs and finally how you can stop them from coming back for good.

Why Do I Have Frogs In My Garden? (Where are these things coming from!?)

The first step in getting rid of frogs is to understand where they are coming from. After all we cannot fix a problem that we do not first understand (did Confucius say that?).

So where do they come from?

Frogs need fresh water. Frogs breed in water so look in your garden for water sources. A pond is the likely culprit but frogs can spawn in any small amount of water – check out all these frogs in a bucket!

this is it. the beginning of my army of 37,000 frogs pic.twitter.com/DjfLXLn7XJ

— that Tadpole Girl (@hannahmcsorley8) June 22, 2020

Frogs need food. If you have a slug or other small pest problem then you might see frogs as they will follow the food.

Your neighbours have frogs… and you don’t have a secure back garden. Frogs are mobile little fellas. Tiny frogs can jump between the slats in your fence and make their way through your garden. If you have a neighbour with a pond (or if you back onto any marshland) then that’s where your frog problem is coming from.

How Do I Get Rid Of Frogs (Without Killing Them)

It is quite difficult finding good information online about how to get rid of frogs while doing so in a humane manner – without needless killing. Some people don’t want frogs in their garden and also don’t want to cause suffering to an innocent animal.

Use A Repellent

There are all kinds of repellents available and they all work in a similar way – to varying degrees of success. What they do is annoy the frog into leaving. You see, frogs breathe and drink water through their skin so their skin is porous (to allow the intake of water/air). What these repellents do is use that porousness against the frog by creating an irritant that bothers the frog – but not too much to cause pain or death. The frog will not like this so will hop away.

The best frog repellents are all things that you can find around your house:

1. Coffee Grounds
2. Salt
3. Lemon juice
4. Vinegar
5. Baking soda

Spray or sprinkle these products around areas you do not want frogs and they will avoid that area.

Unfortunately these things generally only last for a short period of time before they dissipate, also if you are a keen gardener you might not want to be salting your plants as it will kill them. So we need a longer term solution.

Cut Off Their Water Source

Ponds need a water source to drink, breathe and reproduce. Find where they are doing all of this and cut them off.

If you have standing water in your garden get rid of it. Buckets full of rain water? Ditch them.

Consider draining your pond during the spring time when frogs are reproducing and tadpoles will start to appear. Or if you want to keep a pond year round look into a salt water pond

Cut Off Their Food Source

Frogs eat slugs, snails, flies and other assorted insects. If your garden is full of these then frogs will have a very rich food supply to nourish them and their offspring.

Get rid of the slugs and the frogs will get rid of themselves.

How To Prevent Frogs From Coming Back

If you followed the advice above you should now have a frog-free home and garden. If you are still having problems let us know in the comments and we can tackle this problem together.

Getting rid of frogs is not just a one time battle though. They will return and in greater numbers (Obi-wan). The price of a frog-free garden is eternal vigilance.

Follow these steps to prevent frogs from coming back:

1. Secure your garden. Ensure any fences or walls have no holes at ground level. If your fence panels go all the way to the ground consider installing a kick board or a concrete footer.
2. Drain your pond and remove any standing water.
3. Use natural pesticides on your plants to deter slugs and other animals from eating them (and thus removing a food source for the frogs)
4. If you cannot, or do not want to, remove all your water sources then consider creating a barrier around them. Most common frog species in the UK have a very small vertical leap. If you place a small wall around pools, ponds and water features they will not be able to get access.
5. Be vigilant. if you see a frog in your garden carefully remove them before they find any food or water and set up house.
6. Introduce a predator to your garden. Now this will be somewhat controversial as this post is explicitly about how to get rid of frogs without killing them, but death by food chain isn’t the same as needlessly killing yourself. Small mammals like foxes, weasels, skunks and raccoons are known to eat frogs but then you would need to be OK with these animals in your garden. Cats & dogs are also known to eat frogs but it can make them sick so be careful of letting your pets near.

Finally consider keeping the frogs in your garden but penning them in. Frogs make excellent gardening partners as they feed on all of the things that will feed on your plants. Consider having a designated area within your garden which contains your pond and any plants you may be growing. If you put up a small fence around the area the frogs will be limited to this space to roam while protecting your plants from being eaten.

Getting Rid Of Frogs – Frequently Asked Questions