I have about three which seem very happy in my garden without any special accommodations. However, a few years ago when I wanted to adopt a few from a friend's marshy area the instructions were to prop a few upside down clay pots on a stone, so that an openening is created and they will find their way into them. You could also chip a little arch in the rim of the pots to provide the opening. Apparently they will find these dark, small, spaces adequate for hiding from predators. I think mine hide in the storage area under my deck, which is not used. I believe they can get through the lattice that encloses the storage area. They can keep slugs and snails under control if you have a reasonable number. I have lots because of a few wood piles, so I still have to do nightly patrols. Good luck.

I really love having a toad in the garden. They are great to eat slugs and insects, etc. Please be aware though that they love to tunnel into the soil and you don't even know they are there....and when digging you can hurt them or kill them with your shovel. :-(

I live in New Mexico and have several toads living in my garden. You can take a clay flower pot and bury it partially on its side to make a toad house. They hop back and forth between my yard and my neighbors yard - we both have mulched garden areas and water them which creates a moist (sort of) haven for the toads. I second being careful when digging when you have toads in your garden. I always gently scrape away the mulch before starting any holes to avoid chopping any toads in half. They have scared the you know what out of me numerous times by jumping out of the mulch when I start scraping it away. I am in the desert and think I have created a small haven for birds, insects and other small critters in my garden and the shade, cover and abundant insects have attracted the toads.

Congratulations on the toads! I've got one this summer. I would really love to see a turtle.

Oh, I would love a few toads! Lucky you!

Toad number 2 is coming home with me from Ross county. i have 5 toad houses, an inground toad pool, rocks and landscaping from their creek and all the insects they can eat. No predators. Toad heaven! All in my woodland garden amongst the hostas and native woodland plants.

bakemom, do you have raccoons? I lose toads and frogs to raccoons sometimes.
Once again this year a toad has taken up residence in one of my WS pots that wasn't planted out yet. She/he jumps up into the pot in the morning and burrows backwards into the soil. When it is finished the burrowing, the soil looks so flat that you would never guess that the toad was in there.

I have toad houses of all sorts and kinds all over my garden, and not a single toad has ever taken up residence. :(

But, they seem to like my blazing hot, dry, sunny, asphalt-surrounded back patio. Go figure. So much for a cool, moist, shady place. Pretty much the only place I ever find them, which isn't nearly often enough, is on that hot patio.

I do wish I had more...

Dee

For the past week or so, when we sit out on our deck at night (to get cooler!) we've been hearing this "kur -plop" of something jumping into the pool. Tonight we turned the light on in the pool and saw the hugest bullfrog I've ever seen around here, swimming away! He must be able to get in and out - can't figure out how. Guess the clorine isn't bothering him as he swims laps nightly!!!

I see several every year, I dont do anything for them, but I know they reside in the crevices of my rock walls I made, so I guess I did do something for them when I built those.

But I will see them under some of the rosebushes during the summer as well.

Silverkelt

greylady-gardener, you are right! In early spring one year I actually speared a toad with my garden weasel : ( It died. I felt so bad. I had no Idea he was there.

ponyexpress_1 that is how I found out. :-(. I lost my poor little toad while digging the veg. garden. I had to ask a neighbour to put him out of his misery and could hardly talk I was crying so hard,,,,,,felt so stupid and I think he wondered about my sanity for crying over a toad, but I can't stand to see anything suffer. :-(

I feel you Ponyexpress and Graylady, We had a lecture at school on "Polar Bears: A Future in Jeopardy", I was in tears and then they explained how amphibians are at a 50% loss worldwide and they are a vital species to our ecosystems. It was heart breaking.

Once when I was a teen I mowed over a toad with the lawn mower and was so distraught I was crying. I have had a life-long love of nature, although my skin's a little thicker now.

Surviving in the wild isn't easy for the critters, just wish humans wouldn't add to their challenges. We need to become more conscientious of how we treat the Earth and in particular how we manage our waste.

I recently read about a dead sperm whale that washed up in Spain that "had swallowed 17kg of plastic waste dumped into the sea by farmers tending greenhouses that produce tomatoes and other vegetables for British supermarkets." Wow, and these people were growing food. How about growing organic, and re-using or recycling materials??

I had a large toad burrow into many of my WS containers last year. If it was just one container that would have been a minor loss and acceptable payment for the slug/bug removal service. This toad seemed like it chose a different container every day. I lost a lot of seedlings due to the toad crushing, burying, or dumping them out. It took me a while to figure out who was doing the digging. Once I knew, I kept one container that had no seedlings left watered for the toad. And yes, they bury themselves to the point of being invisible, and it's startling when one jumps out! I'm cutting the milk jugs differently this year and hope it will discourage the toad. Once the weather warms up, I'll set out another open container of moist potting mix for the toad. Apparently they really enjoy that.