No tadpoles and no frogspawn here yet, but thankfully the frogs are gathering in my pond now, so I haven't put all of them off with the coffee grounds.  I've seen four or five today and hopefully there will be a few more over the weekend if the weather stays warm. 

A few years ago there used to be 40 or so of them gathering and spawning but they declined after the bad winter of 2010.  I'm hoping they haven't declined this year due to my coffee habit. 

The difference in timing is amazing - there's been spawn in our pond since the end of February at least.

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I purchased some Hebes for the borders at the weekend i got 3 Hebe Caledonia and 3 Hebe Red Edge , they look nice spread around the border with our other plants and bark chippings, the Caledonias have lovely burgundy tips .... £40 worth though, was 3 for £20 deal... 

Also 8 Red Robins Photinia for hedging to our left, was 4 for £20.

Just hoping no frosts but they should be fairly hardy Wyevale's told me......If not I'll be digging them back up and planting them on the customer service till 

 

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The difference in timing is amazing - there's been spawn in our pond since the end of February at least.

Our frogs usually spawn around this time but I know of other ponds in our area that get spawn much earlier and often they get batches more than once.  I still don't have any but I still don't have many frogs.  My sister's mum in law has bucket loads in her pond, so I might grab some of hers and then lay off the coffee. 

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I purchased some Hebes for the borders at the weekend i got 3 Hebe Caledonia and 3 Hebe Red Edge , they look nice spread around the border with our other plants and bark chippings, the Caledonias have lovely burgundy tips .... £40 worth though, was 3 for £20 deal... 

Also 8 Red Robins Photinia for hedging to our left, was 4 for £20.

Just hoping no frosts but they should be fairly hardy Wyevale's told me......If not I'll be digging them back up and planting them on the customer service till 

Sounds like a good choice!  Hebes and Photinias are hardy and will be OK if bought from a garden centre as they will have been kept outdoors, so you should have no worries about hardening them off or being damaged by frost.  They should last for a good few years.  Don't be shy about pruning them back if the get too big for their boots either.  

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I've counted 18 frogs in my pond today.  They were most active and made more noise during a shower of rain this afternoon.  No spawn yet but at least I know I haven't put them off altogether. 

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I've just been outside and the frogs are really making a racket now.  They sound like motor bikes revving up in the distance.  A lovely sound of Spring.  I'm betting there will be some spawn in the morning. 

Talking of sounds.  Our daughter keeps chickens and wanted a particular breed to add to her flock of egg layers, so we went with her to a poultry market and bought three young chicks.  A couple of weeks ago we found out one was cockerel and she told me she was taking him back to market to sell because his crowing woke her up in the mornings.  I couldn't believe she'd said that about a lovely countryside sound and I reminded her that she bought her house because of its lovely position on the outskirts of the village overlooking countryside! 

However, she wasn't the only one who didn't like it because the day before the planned market visit, she had a letter from the local council saying someone had complained about it crowing at six o clock in the morning and could she take steps to quieten it down.  We did have a laugh about it but I still think it's a bit silly.  Why on earth do people live in the countryside if they don't like the sounds?    

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I've counted 18 frogs in my pond today.  They were most active and made more noise during a shower of rain this afternoon.  No spawn yet but at least I know I haven't put them off altogether. 

18 frogs? Is it a very big pond?

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18 frogs? Is it a very big pond?

No, it's not very big.  About six foot by three foot but we do have a lot of plants in it and that's what the frogs like to spawn in.  There are even more frogs today but still no spawn.

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No, it's not very big.  About six foot by three foot but we do have a lot of plants in it and that's what the frogs like to spawn in.  There are even more frogs today but still no spawn.

That's amazing, I had no idea that you could have so many frogs in one relatively small pond. I've never even seen a frog in mine, though mine is only four years old.  I "borrowed" some frogspawn last year and was delighted that frogspawn appeared by itself this year. Obviously, there have been frogs in mine but I've never seen them. I've got a huge number of tadpoles at the moment so I hope they've got enough to eat. I've got some plants in mine, but could certainly have some more. Any plants that you can recommend? My pond is similar in size to yours.

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Not strictly gardening, unless you specialise in weeds, but I saw the first cow parsley of the season in flower yesterday

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That's amazing, I had no idea that you could have so many frogs in one relatively small pond. I've never even seen a frog in mine, though mine is only four years old.  I "borrowed" some frogspawn last year and was delighted that frogspawn appeared by itself this year. Obviously, there have been frogs in mine but I've never seen them. I've got a huge number of tadpoles at the moment so I hope they've got enough to eat. I've got some plants in mine, but could certainly have some more. Any plants that you can recommend? My pond is similar in size to yours.

My frogs favour a part of the pond that is densely covered in the oxygenating plant, Elodea Crispa for their spawning and my fish also spawn in it a bit later in the year, so I get quite a lot of new goldfish every year.  Tadpoles feed on algae that's in your pond but you can also feed them small bits of ham but make sure you remove any that's not eaten as it will just rot and lower the water quality. 

Good news!  I had frogspawn when I got up this morning (in the pond that is, not for breakfast), then when I got home from work this evening there were two more big clumps of it.  The frogs are still bubbling and babbling so I think there'll be more. 

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My frogs favour a part of the pond that is densely covered in the oxygenating plant, Elodea Crispa for their spawning and my fish also spawn in it a bit later in the year, so I get quite a lot of new goldfish every year.  Tadpoles feed on algae that's in your pond but you can also feed them small bits of ham but make sure you remove any that's not eaten as it will just rot and lower the water quality. 

Good news!  I had frogspawn when I got up this morning (in the pond that is, not for breakfast), then when I got home from work this evening there were two more big clumps of it.  The frogs are still bubbling and babbling so I think there'll be more. 

That is good news. You should have tadpoles fairly soon, presumably they hatch quicker as it's getting later in the year.

 

Thanks for the tip about the Elodea - will look out for it. I actually don't have much algae in the pond but I do have some plants so hopefully that'll be enough for them

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More spawn today and a few more frogs bubbling about.  I don't know if my spawn becomes free swimming tadpoles any quicker but I'll post when it does.  Frogs spawn in my pond during the last few days of March every year but I know others in the area that spawn earlier or later and I know of one garden pond that has spawn three times during the Spring.

You'll find that algae grows on plants anyway so you will probably have enough for your tadpoles to graze on.  Elodea grows and multiplies very quickly and although mine started off pegged to a marginal shelf some years ago, it's now in a large floating clump and I have to thin it out regularly to restrict it to one half of the pond.

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Still haven't managed to prune the roses - too many frost risks!

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And the broad beans have yet to emerge.. they were planted 2 weeks ago!

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Still haven't managed to prune the roses - too many frost risks!

I don't worry about frost with my roses.  Once they start to sprout new growth I prune them at the soonest opportunity and the frost doesn't bother them at all. 

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I don't worry about frost with my roses.  Once they start to sprout new growth I prune them at the soonest opportunity and the frost doesn't bother them at all. 

This is probably why we end up with the most overgrown straggly roses ever!... that and the fact that the previous owners mistook climbers for normal roses! lol

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Red garlic planted in a pot is now showing shoots.

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This is probably why we end up with the most overgrown straggly roses ever!... that and the fact that the previous owners mistook climbers for normal roses! lol

Prune them as soon as you can Nick.  If they're straggly, cut them right down to a strong outward growing shoot and don't be afraid to cut them down hard. 

Many moons ago I grew shrubs for amenity horticulture so we had fields full to look after and at pruning time my colleagues would call me 'the butcher' but come Summer mine were the envy of them all. 

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Mint and parsley growing in the growing room.  6 Red Geraniums and 6 Pink geraniums for the troughs purchased today from Lidl. 3.99 per tray.

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