By the time the first hard frosts arrive, most of the wildlife in a British garden has either left, tucked itself away or died back. Frogs and toads, though, are still here — and they are far more vulnerable than most of us realise. Unlike hedgehogs, which tend to find a decent heap of leaves and settle down, amphibians are fussy about where they spend the winter. They need somewhere damp but not flooded, cool but not frozen solid, and hidden enough that a fox, a cat or a curious dog will not dig them out.
Common frogs, common toads and the three native newts all hibernate in the UK, usually from October or November through to February or March. Some frogs will overwinter at the bottom of a pond, buried in the silt where the water stays above freezing. But a great many choose dry land instead, squeezing into crevices, burrowing under roots or simply sinking into deep leaf litter. If your garden offers none of that, those animals have to take their chances in the open — and a hard winter will finish them off.
The good news is that creating decent shelter takes an afternoon, costs almost nothing, and often uses materials you were going to throw away.
Picture the corner of a wood that never gets tidied. There is a damp hollow under a fallen branch, a layer of rotting leaves an inch thick, a few stones half-buried in soil, and a gentle slope down to the water. That is amphibian heaven, and it works because it offers four things at once:
Keep this list in mind wherever you site your shelter. A south-facing bank, sheltered from the prevailing wind by a hedge or fence, is usually the warmest and safest option.
A log pile is the single most useful thing you can build. The mistake most gardeners make is stacking it too tightly, which leaves no room for anything to get inside. Aim for a loose, airy structure with plenty of gaps.
Start with a base of larger logs laid parallel to each other on bare soil or gravel — not on a paving slab, which stops the damp rising. Add a second layer at right angles, then a third, leaving spaces the width of your finger and more. Mix in a few short lengths of rotting wood, some bark, and a handful of broken terracotta pots or flat stones. A little brash — twiggy prunings from the hedge — piled over the top will shed rain and add another layer of insulation.
Two or three smaller piles spread around the garden are better than one large one, because amphibians do not travel far to hibernate. A pile a metre long and half a metre high is plenty. If you have space, build one in shade and one in a sunnier spot so the animals can pick.
Resist the urge to clear every leaf from your borders in autumn. A layer of leaf litter 5 to 10 centimetres deep across a planted bed is a ready-made hibernation site, and it feeds the soil at the same time. Leave the leaves under shrubs, along the base of a hedge and in the corners behind the shed. Beech and oak leaves are particularly good, as they break down slowly and stay loose rather than matting into a soggy sheet.
Compost heaps are another favourite. A slow, cool heap at the bottom of the garden — the sort that is added to occasionally and turned rarely — is warm, damp and full of invertebrates for a hungry frog to snack on before the cold sets in. Do not empty or turn a compost heap between November and March unless you are prepared to relocate the residents gently.
Frogs and toads emerging from hibernation in early spring are weak, cool and slow. They head straight for water to breed, and the journey is far easier if your pond has at least one gently sloping side rather than a vertical drop.
Aim for a bank that falls at roughly 1 in 3 — shallow enough to walk up. Line that slope with stones, gravel, pebbles or a coarse planting of grasses and marginal plants so there is grip underfoot. If your pond has straight sides, a simple ramp of stones and soil, or a piece of roughened timber laid from the water to the bank, will do the job. Frogs can climb surprisingly well when given something to climb on.
Keep some planting around the edge too, such as iris, marsh marigold or soft rush, cut back only every other year. This gives emerging amphibians somewhere to hide from herons and cats on the way to the water.
Once your shelter is in place, leave it alone. Rummaging through a log pile in January to see who is home will disturb the very animals you are helping, and a sudden blast of cold air can kill a hibernating frog within hours.
There are a few jobs worth doing, though. If the pond freezes over for more than a few days, do not smash the ice — the shock waves can injure or kill wildlife in the water. Instead, stand a pan of hot water on the surface until it melts a hole, or float a small ball in the pond from the start of winter to keep a gap open. Keep drains and gullies clear so hibernation spots do not flood during heavy rain. And if you must move a log pile, do it in April or May when everyone is awake and has moved on.
Do all of this and your garden becomes a genuine winter refuge — a small, quiet corner that carries frogs, toads and newts safely through to spring, when the pond fills with spawn and the whole thing starts again.
Sedge Notes shares practical, down-to-earth guidance on british wetland gardening and wildlife for readers across the UK.
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