Monday, April 11, 2011

Oh Brother Where Art Thou Toads?

A recommendation was given to add a water feature to the garden.  It doesn’t need to be big or expensive.  The feature can be as simple as a saucer of water at ground level to draw in some garden terminators.  There’s no electricity out in the garden so a recirculating pump won’t work.  I’m going to start with a simple large terra cotta saucer of water.  If that’s a success, I’ll expand to accommodate the pool party.  The question is where to best locate the toad pool.  Where?

As I was puttering around in the garden pondering the location, my able garden assistant proceeded with the site excavation.

DSC_2499_6352

With the site secured and excavation underway, the saucer was cleaned out and ready to install.  A quick check for depth and we’re about ready to proceed.

DSC_2500_6353 I’ve suggested to a co-worker with young boys that they might be able to make some money by catching toads and selling them to gardeners like me that would like to control the pest population in the garden without damaging the balance too much.  If that doesn’t work, I may have to head on down to the North Chester bridge and see if any local young sirens have loved up any fellas down by the river and turned them into toads.

From one of my favorite movies:

Be sure, if I acquire three of these creatures they will be named Pete, Delmar, and Everett.  I hope Ajax doesn’t take on the personality of Big Dan.

 

Bonus:  This may be a good area to transplant my Scotch Moss.

3 comments:

dorothy said...

My yard is not toad friendly for some reason even though I've provided houses for them! My son, on the other hand has tons of toads at his place, and I've tried to import them but they don't stay. (Love the photo of The Excavator!)

Lisa Paul said...

Just be careful that it doesn't become a mosquito breeding ground. I think there are very cheap recirculators you can buy (like under $50.) That alone would keep out the skeeters.

Jean Campbell said...

The toads on my carport in previous years were Pete, Delmar and George Clooney. Everett just didn't seem to me like a proper toad name.

Those floating solar fountains work, if the Dog doesn't take a fancy to it, as mine did. She loves trinkets.