Last spring I picked up a silly little hobby… making toad abodes.
My interest in this started a couple of years back when I had a toad living in a potted plant outside my front door. I posted about how silly it was on my Instagram and the people demanded a home for the little fella! As luck would have it, I spotted the perfect home at the thrift store. It turned into a whole series on my Instagram. We named him Gomez and he brought a lot of people a lot of joy!
Check out some of my favorite posts about Gomez — the day he got his first thrifted home, when he got his name, Gomez getting ready for Halloween.
I knew I wanted to do something toad-related again and to potentially expand on this idea. That’s how I ended up building my own toad abode. I used scrap wood, bark from our woods and my brad nailer. It was super simple, cost next to nothing and was done in no time. Not to mention, it’s the cutest.
Obviously, a toad house isn’t a necessity. They’ve been getting on forever without them but I do enjoy the whimsy. There are few things more exciting than going out and spotting that someone is home and using the tiny house I built.
I have two toad abodes in our yard at the moment. One is in my garden which has an abundance of toads who love my damp soil, all the bugs my plants attract, and the cool shade my plants provide. That house is occupied maybe half the time. There are lots of other spots for them to live in my garden where a giant doesn’t disturb them with a camera.
The second toad abode is located in a potted plant outside of my front door. It’s the more popular of the two. I would venture to bet that it’s because of my porch lights. That home is occupied the vast majority of the time.
A few tips for drawing toads to your garden & toad abode —
Provide water sources + offer toads a damp environment. (Even near a downspout is good!)
Shady is best!
Your toad abode needs to be placed on dirt and have no bottom. Toads like to burrow into the cool dirt. They have no problem digging in the mulch in my garden but I do try to pull mulch away from the house so they have actual dirt to hang out in.
Avoid pesticides.
