How to:
Build a frog hotel
Build your own frog hotel - a small habitat designed to provide a safe, cool & moist refuge for frogs in your backyard!
Create a sanctuary in your backyard with a frog hotel — a simple, eco-friendly way to support local wildlife and enjoy natural pest control. Frog hotels provide a hiding place for frogs, which are increasingly losing their natural habitats due to urban development and climate change. By offering a welcoming environment, you’re helping to protect these important native species while encouraging biodiversity in your garden. Plus, frogs feed on common garden pests like mosquitoes and slugs, making them a natural, chemical-free solution for pest management. Whether you have a sprawling garden or a compact courtyard, building a frog hotel is a fun, rewarding project that benefits both your garden and the environment.
Join our Mailing List to keep up to date on our next Frog Hotel workshop where we supply all the equipment and guidance required to build your new frog home, or you can have a go yourself by following our guide below. Happy frogging!
What you’ll need
Recommended Plants
Some common native plants suitable for frog hotels are Lomandra hystrix, Common rush (Juncus usitatus), Bog primrose (Villarsia exaltata), Native violet (Viola hederacea) and Frogsmouth (Philydrum lanuginosum).
How to Build
Step One
Arrange the pipes how you would like them to look in your container (ensure it has drainage holes)
Step Two
Scoop the soil around the pipes until they stand upright on their own in the container
Step Three
If you are adding plants, ensure you allow for growing space and set up the plant height so that it sits just below the edge of the container. Make sure you are using water/bog appropriate plant species otherwise they will drown!
Step Four
Fill the rest of the container with the soil and then decorate the top layer with rocks or river stones
Step Five
Add any other decorative elements you desire (e.g. small solar light). Your frog hotel is now ready for its first guests!
Species likely to visit...
Eastern Sedge Frog (Litoria Fallax)
Ruddy Tree Frog (Litoria Pyrina)
Green Tree Frog (Litoria Caerulea)
Want to attract more frogs?
Looking to level up after building your frog hotel? Check out our video below on how to DIY a frog pond in your backyard
Building your own frog pond not only offers a range of environmental benefits but can also provide you with a source of enjoyment, education and connection to nature. A well-designed pond provides a safe breeding habitat for frogs native to your area, which is important as frogs are indicators of ecosystem health and help control pests like mosquitoes, flies and moths without the need for chemicals. You’ll also be supporting local biodiversity, as frogs attract birds and other native wildlife, creating a mini-ecosystem in your own backyard!