Toads can help get a jump on garden bugs

Healthy, well-maintained gardens invite all kinds of wild guests. Some, like uninvited varmints, can do a lot of damage. Even beautiful, welcome birds can sometimes take a toll on fruits and other garden plants if you're not careful. But the humble toad is a garden guest that's always welcome.

Toads love slugs, grubs, grasshoppers and cutworms. Toads are the kinds of guests you'll want to invite to stay in your garden, and bring their friends! If you can get them to drop in and they feel at home, they can stay around for years. They're common from coast to coast.

It's easy to confuse toads with frogs. They are related and have similar diets, but that's where the resemblance ends. Toads start life in water, but really are terrestrial animals that prefer a drier environment, making them easier to attract and keep in the average garden. Their skin is drier and rougher than frogs', with more “warts.” But don't fall for the old myth that touching a toad produces warts on humans. That skin does have a secret, though. It carries glands that exude a horrible-tasting bufotoxin that makes a lasting impression. A toad usually isn't bothered more than once by the same predator.

You may have discovered toads in your yard and wondered how they got there. The likely source is a nearby pond, ditch or even a simple depression that holds standing water in the spring. This is when young toads change from aquatic tadpoles and start to move onto land.

Because they feed mostly at night, toads take cover during the heat of the day by digging themselves into damp soil or debris, or under stones or low-growing plants to provide shelter and moisture.

There are several ways to simulate this cool, damp environment. You can build a natural-looking rock garden with lots of nooks and crannies. Commercial toad houses are available online and at some garden centers and big-box stores. Be sure they are open-bottomed with large side openings. Some of the larger toad species like the huge female Bufo americanus can't fit into typical store-bought toad houses.

An 8-inch-diameter terra-cotta pot makes for an easy toad house. Use tile nippers to nibble away two openings about 2 inches wide and 2 inches high on opposite sides of the rim. The second one is a backdoor escape hatch in case your garden also is home to toad-loving snakes or other predators. Whichever shelter you prefer, place it near water if possible and under lots of shade.

In late fall, toads will simply burrow down below the soil surface and hibernate until spring. And whenever you discover that a toad has taken up residence, be sure to leave its habitat undisturbed. Once it finds a safe and secure place, this may be its home for a very long time.

To cool off, toads absorb water through the skin on their belly. The shallow drip saucer of that terra-cotta pot makes an ideal place for your guest to jump into. Make sure it's filled on hot days.

Toads are incredibly patient. They can lie in wait, motionless, for hours until a tasty meal happens along. Then they use their long, sticky tongues to grab their unsuspecting dinner. They even eat mosquito larvae while they're still tadpoles swimming in the water.

Adult toads eat mostly insects, so it's yet another reason not to use pesticides to take away their food supply. Plus many of these chemicals are highly toxic to toads. Instead, allow Mother Nature to do pest control since toads are quite an effective weapon in your pest-management arsenal.

Creating an attractive, supportive home for toads is easy and will really make your garden an even more nature-friendly place. The unassuming guests will reward you with insect control and the unmistakable summer evening songs that only happy toads can sing.

ŸJoe Lamp'l, host of “Growing a Greener World” on PBS, is a Master Gardener and author. For more information visit www.joegardener.com.