A newby here with lots of questions. We moved to this house in Sept, so I don't know what usually happens. We had 20-30 frogs in the fall. Should the frogs already be visible in our small pond? With all the warm weather, it's been melted for a while. I'm concerned that I'm not seeing any frogs or spawn yet. I thought the frogs were hibernating in the bottom of the pond, but I've seen no sign of them emerging. If they haven't come by now, does it mean they've all died/moved on? What should I do to repopulate the pond, if necessary? And when would I know that I'd need to take remedial steps?

Also, I would really like to plant marsh marigolds and waterlilies/lotuses in the pond. Would this be good for frogs or deter them? Any particular types that are good for frogs? And where is a good, reliable, not outrageously expensive place to buy such plants from?

Thank you so much for any help you can give. I really loved the frogs and have been so looking forward to seeing them emerge.

Beatrice

Welcome to the pond forum. I have been ponding for 10 years now and I always tend to rush the season when we have nice weather. Your frogs are probably still in hibernation. One year when we had an early spring I hurried to get the pond up and running. When I vacuumed my top pond and settlement pond I found what I thought were five frogs dead. I placed them on the ground in a row till I had time to bury them. I didn't get to it that day, and when I looked for them the next morning they were gone. I guess they were still hibernating and when I took them out of the cold pond water and laid them in the sun they eventually warmed up and jumped back into the pond. Last year was the first year I had tadpoles. I hope some of them made it through the winter. I haven't seen any frogs yet. One of my pond forum buddies told me they will probably appear in May. She, too, thought she lost her frog last year, but it showed up in May. She reminded me we are still in April and even though we are having warm weather the pond water is still cold.

Hang in there, they should be waking up soon.

Jenny

Hopefully he's still asleep.