Like so many other wildlife species frog populations are declining due to loss of habitat and pollution. If you want to encourage frogs into your garden, plants, moisture and water will make it more attractive to them.

Frogs need a moist environment to live in and the protection of plants. You can provide this with a bog garden by digging a hollow in the ground, lining it with strong black plastic with drainage holes punched in it and backfilling with soil. This will drain slowly to provide an ideal habitat for moisture loving plants and moisture loving frogs.

Bog and frog loving plants include: Dianella caerulea, D. tasmanica, Gahnia sieberiana, Isolepis nodosa, Restio tetraphyllus and Viola hederacea.

If you want frogs to breed you will have to provide a pool of water for them. This can be as large or small as you like (or as space allows) but should be at least 30 to 50 centimetres deep at the centre to ensure the water does not overheat. It should receive sunlight for at least a few hours a day.

A pond can be made by digging a hole to the required shape and size and lining with a pond liner, this method will enable you to fit it in with the existing surroundings. Alternatively, ready-made pond shells, which are available in various shapes and sizes, can be used.

Access must be provided for frogs to enter and exit the pool. This can be achieved with a log or rocks positioned
to create a slope from the water to the edge of the pool. Water plants will provide food and shelter for tadpoles but do not over plant, as lack of sunlight will create an unhealthy water environment.

Water plants include: Azolla spp., Myriophyllum spp., Nymphoides spp., Restio tetraphyllus, and Triglochin spp.

Grasses planted around the pond edge will drape into the water creating a protective canopy for frogs.

Suitable grasses include: Cymbopogon ambiguous, Microlaena stipoides, Themeda australis and Danthonia tenuior.

Other useful groundcovers: Brachyscome multifida, Hardenbergia violacea and Hibbertia spp.

Do not put fish in the pond, as they will eat frog eggs.

Fountains look nice in ponds but will probably make mince meat out of frog eggs and small tadpoles.

Take care with chemicals, frogs are sensitive and may eat insects that have been sprayed with insecticide.

Australia's Rainforests today cover approximately 800 sq km in broken pockets stretching from the tip of Cape York to South West Tasmania. This is about one quarter of the original rainforest which existed in 1788. Most was cleared for agriculture, grazing and by timber getters. The pockets which remain are mainly in more inaccessible areas or those of poor quality soils.

Rainforests are found in the temperate, subtropical and tropical regions where they occur as wet or dry, in highland, lowland and coastal areas. The flora diversity includes ferns, palms, orchids and pines. Rainforest trees are a haven for birds as most trees bear attractive fruits to encourage fruit bats and birds to disperse the seeds.

Some of our most famous native trees, the Silky Oak (Grev robusta) and the Illawarra Flame (brachychiton acerifolius) belong to the rainforest as well as our world famous and only commercial native nut, the macadamia (macadamia tetraphylla). The list of world class timber trees is endless, who hasn't heard of the Australian Red Cedar, Kauri Pine, Brush Box, Coachwood just to mention a few.

There are many smaller shrubs, climbers, groundcovers, ferns, stags and elks which all have a place in the rainforest under the canopy of the larger trees.

When the term RAINforest is applied to our native tress and shrubs most people believe they will require copious amounts of water to survive. This is far from the facts, once established, rainforest trees and shrubs can survive for long periods with very little water.

Most rainforest plants can adapt well outside their environment and usually don't attain the sizes of those in their natural environment.

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Pots all shapes and sizes.
Glazed and terracotta.

There are no rules when it comes to pots and plants. A Gardenia works just as well in a tall, contemporary pot as in a lower, classic bowl.

Try and group your pots. Arrange them in groups of three or five. Pots look more balanced when put in odd numbers. A neat row of pots can look better if planted with the same plants.