If you dream of a garden that feels lush, lively and a little bit enchanted, it’s time to roll out the tiny green carpet for frogs and turn your backyard into a 5 STAR Frog Resort. Few things beat the pleasure of a frog chorus tuning up after dark, or spotting a cool little customer tucked into a fern on a scorching day. These excellent backyard guests bring ambience, personality and pest control — all without demanding snacks, Wi-Fi or a late checkout. Frogs happily feast on mozzies, aphids, beetles, slugs and other garden gatecrashers hanging around your veggie patch, flower beds and summer BBQ. Let them do the dirty work, and in the grand, slightly dramatic circle of life, frogs also become dinner for birds and reptiles, helping keep your garden’s food web ticking along with balance and diversity.
A frog-friendly garden is basically nature’s five-star review. Because frogs breathe and drink through their delicate, permeable skin, they are wonderfully fussy about clean water, healthy soil and a balanced ecosystem. In other words, if your garden isn’t croaking, it may be cooked. When frogs, lizards, birds and beneficial insects are allowed to get on with the job, your garden needs far fewer chemical interventions. Herbicides, insecticides and fungicides don’t stop neatly at weeds, snails or caterpillars; they send shockwaves through the entire backyard buffet, affecting bees, butterflies, moths, bugs and the many animals that rely on insects for food. The famous “windshield effect” tells the story: decades ago, a country drive often ended with a windscreen plastered in insects; today, far less so. Habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change have all played their part. With around 80 percent of the world’s flowering plants relying on pollination, including many of our food crops, every garden that welcomes wildlife becomes part of the solution.
So, let’s hop straight into the main attraction: your 5 STAR frog resort, complete with pool, hotel and sauna. The pool is the pond — the nursery, maternity ward and tadpole training centre where the next generation gets its start. The hotel is the daytime hideaway, especially handy in new gardens or compact spaces where dense planting is still on the way. Think cool pipes, shady pots and secret little rooms where frogs can avoid the heat, the sun and nosy neighbours. And the sauna? That’s the winter wellness centre. Solar-heated frog saunas give frogs a warm retreat that may help them resist chytrid fungus, a deadly skin disease threatening frogs around the world. Build the pool, open the hotel, warm up the sauna, and before long your backyard may be less garden and more luxury amphibian retreat that turns your backyard into a 5 STAR Frog Resort.
Wildside Sanctuary is a frog fanciers dream! Our supersized tiny home Frog Hollow overlooks our dam teaming with frogs, toadlets and tadpoles. All year round their calls provide a perfect rhythm to the evening sounds. Your private deck overlooks our Gondwana garden featuring giant tree ferns and Wollemi pines. Enjoy a candlelit dinner while you listen out for the calls of koalas, owls, gliders and the thump thump thump of wallabies in the bush nearby. It is paradise for those seeking a nature escape with all the creature comforts. Make your stay even more magical with a private wildlife tour or inhouse massage – check out Experiences at Wildside Sanctuary. Book direct through our website and save!
A Perfect Pond
Location Location Location
• Choose a quiet, sheltered spot with nearby plants, logs or leaf litter for cover for your 5 STAR Frog Resort.
• Aim for morning sun and afternoon shade so the pond does not overheat.
• Keep it away from pesticide, herbicide and fertiliser runoff.
• Avoid placing it under trees that drop leaves or too close to bedrooms
How to build
• Use a non-toxic pond liner, old spa bath or prefabricated pond shell.
• Make gently sloping sides so frogs, froglets and small wildlife can get out easily.
• Include shallow shelves, a damp bog edge and a section about 50–70 cm deep.
• Add rocks, logs, branches and washed gravel for shelter, texture and safe entry points.
Planting and habitat
• Plant local native grasses, sedges, rushes and groundcovers around the pond edge.
• Add native aquatic or semi-aquatic plants suited to your area.
• Keep some open water, plus dense edge cover for hiding and calling.
• Before you add plants check out Sydney Weeds Network as some pond weeds will take over
• Leave mulch, leaf litter, rocks and logs nearby as daytime shelter.
Maintenance and safety
• Top up during dry weather from tank water or stored (chlorine-free) tap water
• Remove excess rotting leaves by hand.
• Trim plants lightly rather than clearing all cover.
• Check local pool safety requirements if children can access the pond.
• Keep pets away
• Be patient: frogs will arrive if they already live nearby and the habitat stays moist, quiet and chemical-free in the 5 STAR Frog Resort.
Your 5 STAR Frog Resort
What You Will Need
• A ceramic pot with no drainage hole, or a plastic bag to seal a pot with holes
• Clean gravel, pebbles or small river stones
• Plastic pipes or PVC pipes in a few widths and lengths
• Sandpaper for smoothing cut pipe edges
• Frog-friendly plants, such as native sedges, reeds, rushes or other moisture-loving plants suited to your area
Position Position Position
Position the pot so it gets enough light for plants to grow but is protected from hot blazing sun. Frogs like warmth in winter. In summer they will move to the deeper cooler part of the pipe, in winter they will sit in the warmer above ground section. If you’re planting herbs keep the pot near your kitchen.
• Prepare the Pipe Rooms
• Cut the plastic pipes into different lengths so the finished hotel has a varied skyline. Smooth every cut edge with sandpaper. The pipes will stand upright inside the pot.
• Add Gravel and Secure the Pipes
• If your pot has a hole in the bottom, line it with a plastic bag, then pour in the gravel deep enough to hold the pipes in place. The gravel anchors the pipes, keeps them upright and creates gaps where water can collect without making the hotel too deep.
• Add Water and Plants
Plant moisture-loving native plants or herbs around the pipes, back fill with potting mix. The goal is to create shade, cover and humidity without blocking every pipe entrance.
Finish the Five-Star Frog Resort Details
Add a few larger stones, bark pieces or leafy plants around the pot so frogs can approach safely and hide nearby. For the “Hilton Five-Star Frog Resort” touch, arrange the pipe openings at different heights like a luxury tower.
Care and Maintenance
• Keep the hotel damp, especially during hot or dry weather.
• Top up with rainwater or dechlorinated tap water only.
• Avoid pesticides, herbicides and harsh chemicals – they harm the frogs and the insects they eat
• Leave the hotel mostly undisturbed once frogs discover it.
A Solar Sauna
Why frogs need a sauna
• A frog “sauna” is a small, warm shelter that they love!
• Australian research has shown that this clever design can help frogs raise their body temperature and fight the deadly chytrid fungus which attacks their skin.
• Chytrid fungus kills frogs around the world and has made some species extinct.
• The fungus thrives in cold moist conditions, so winter is when frogs are most vulnerable
• Late autumn/Winter/early Spring are the key seasons to have your sauna available.
• Place it where frogs already live such as near a pond or dam, in the sunniest spot
• Choose a spot that receives winter sun, because the sauna works by absorbing sunlight.
• The shelter should offer a choice, with easy entry and exit.
What you will need
• 10 masonry bricks with holes through them.
• Black, water based outdoor paint.
• A small clear greenhouse to trap the suns heat
• Tent pegs to secure the greenhouse
• Flat rocks or small logs to create gaps at the base for frogs to access the sauna
How to Build
• Clean off the bricks with a wire brush
• Chip off sharp edges inside the holes with a long flat blade screwdriver
• Paint every surface of the bricks black and let them dry completely.
• Lay three bricks on their sides with the holes running horizontally so frogs can hide inside the openings.
• Leave small gaps between the bricks so frogs have several entry points.
• Stack another three bricks across the first layer at a right angle to make the structure stable.
• Add a third layer of three bricks, then place the final brick on top for extra weight and stability.
• Place the clear greenhouse or cover over the bricks to trap solar warmth, secure it with tent pegs.
• Place rocks/wood to raise the bottom of the cover so frogs can get in and out of your 5 STAR Frog Resort freely.
Maintenance and Safety Checks
• Keep the surrounding garden moist and frog-friendly by using leaf litter, native plants, clean water, and pesticide-free gardening.
• If you find sick, injured, or dead frogs, contact a local wildlife rescue group or amphibian expert rather than handling them unnecessarily.
Become a call connoisseur with FrogID
If you’re wanting to differentiate a screamer from a whistling tree frog we suggest you download the FrogID app onto your phone. Record your frogs’ calls and they will be identified by experts from the Australian Museum. It’s one of the most successful citizen science projects in the world with over 1.5 million recordings of Australian frogs submitted. You’ll be helping scientists monitor frog populations and you may be lucky enough to record a rare species!!
