Pond/Tadpole advice....

As promised, I'm looking for some advice!
Four years ago, we bought the bungalow that we live in... complete with a fabulous garden that had become overgrown and rampant with brambles, and two very large ponds.
The previous owners had lived here since 1957, and loved their garden... but eventually it became too much for them, and when their daughters came to sell the house, they could not bear for it to fall into the hands of the developers who would have squashed it flat (as they did to the house next door, in order to build 4 new homes). We promised them that we would love the garden (as indeed we do!), but the ponds we could not keep.

In truth they were an eyesore (about 12ft square each) made from crazy paving and plastic sheeting. And we had a baby on the way. Also they smelt, and attracted mosquitos, and were quite deep. It hasn't been quite as straight forward as all this though, and to estimate that about 2-300 frogs arrived in February 2006, and surrounded the house, is no word of a lie... (I like frogs as much as the next gardener, but I was actually a tiny bit scared that particular day!). Each year, I have tried my best to 'help out' with the frogspawn! (collecting it in buckets filled with rainwater), and creating a makeshift ponds. But I haven't got the balance quite right yet. In short, I think they create enough spawn to require a swimming pool, and so, the water seems to get polluted, and turns to sludge. At night time during the spawning season, the noise of the frogs can be heard from quite a distance, I have never heard anything like it. This year has been much quieter. The frogspawn collected has now hatched, and I have made a pond out of a children's water play table (out of a skip) and is raised up from the ground (by invitation only!).

But what do I feed them on? (I don't know anyone with a pond to get pond weed.) I know that what I'm doing is just a 'drop in the ocean' of what ideally I would like to do, but each year, I would like to make more improvements to satisfying the needs of the frogs that seem keen to return (pond or no pond), but right now, a new pond is out of the question.
All advice warmly welcomed!
Thanks for reading...

 

Tadpoles feed on vegetation untill they start to develope legs then they become carnivorous,we used to feed our toad tadpoles on boiled lettuce they thrived on this,when you start to see leg developement dangle a piece of meat on string for them to feed off pull it out and change it regularly so the water doesn't pollute.if you have filled the ponds in frogs will keep returning for years have you not considered building a tastefull pond you can always cover it to make it childproof if you search the threads there are some splended examples of pond covers,it would be a shame to lose this natural source of pest control.

 

Walnut, thanks for the really helpful advice about feeding them. I will pass this information on to the school as well, because they have a pond in the classroom...
You are absolutely right about the need to think about recreating a pond, and yes, it is something that I have seriously considered. Every year I've done something (small pond 3ft in diameter, 2 ft deep) albeit it on a small scale, but which has failed due to the sheer numbers. So, I need to consider how to create something that is big enough for them, and yet safe enough for us. I feel very responsible towards the frogs that arrive, and have contacted various organisations in the past, who to be honest, have been pleased to hear of our frog numbers.... but, in terms of our need to manage to create a balance between looking after the frogs, our children;s safety and our limited financial resources have not had a great deal to say! So, with the ball firmly back in our court, I have done the best I can, with the limited knowledge and money. (before disbanding the original pond/s we did look at pond covers, but these were running at about £300 due to the large surface area, and the ponds were desperate) ....So it presents as an interesting series of dilemmas - so many frogs they need a huge pond, but insufficient funds to go 'grand scale' (and although i'm not expecting/looking for sympathy here - I was just a little bit intimidated when they got the place surrounded in huge numbers and refused to hop out of the way - reminiscent of scenes out of the film 'Birds' only with frogs instead!...Gribbit, gribbit!).
Thanks for the advice again Walnut, will go forth and feed! Regards, jo

 

I have just posted a new thread about this as I didnt see yours. I never knew the frogs returned and would feel sick if the same thing happened to me. i now think Ill give the spawn away as I cant face it.