Search for a Shrub

[GasPanic]

OK so I have a problem. At the back of my garden there is a corner where there is little light. It has been a kind of nature reserve and there are a couple of trees that shade it. We are taking a few m2. The frogs like to hunt in it because it is close to the pond. It is dug over at the moment. But it gets covered in weeds. The cats crap in it and chase the frogs. It does not get much light.

What I want is a shrub to spread over the area that will provide cover for the frogs, stop the unsightly weeds so cover the soil yet be invunerable to being trampled down by the cats (either prickly or dense). It will also need to be able to grow in low light, and would be nice if it could spread quickly.

Any suggestions appreciated.

White bramble cockburnianus will be fine if you don’t need to use it. Has viscous thorns.

Googled it, looks OK, but says plant in full sun (?) and this area of the garden can be a bit dark. I will add to the ideas list.

Laurel, Ivy, carex riparia, vinca

Ilex "Little Rascal" very slow growing holly, likes shade grows close to the ground and suits a really small area but prickly is a problem even though these are low on prickly

Frog skins are not very tough even picking them up can damage their skin, you might be better off providing a frog bunker. They can fit right under a low sheet or slab just propped up on a thin brick/pebbles long enough to stop the cats from getting a leg in there.

Laurel looks a possibility.

That led me to Cotoneaster Horizontalis which looks a possibility.

Ceanothus! A beautiful blue shrub

I have considered making a frog tunnel to allow them to access the nature reserve and protect them from the cats.

At the moment I think they just live in the pond. But they like it there under the grid so much that they are outbreeding the pond. There are about 20 in there and they are huge. I don't think they ever go out, just stay in there hoovering up the pond life. I don't think the frog population is sustainable !

Ah. Good idea but one of the trees is a Ceanothus or something similar. It is blue. The other is a large silver birch.

Not a shrub but sweet woodruff is fantastic for ground cover in shade. It smells great too. It would provide enough cover for the frogs so the cats can't see them. And my cats don't trample over mine. It'll stop the weeds too.

Frogs live on the land and use water bodies for breeding and some hunting, they also hunt for food on land. At present they are in and around the pond but will be off in other areas for most of the year.

All amphibians and reptiles love a bunker or a tunnel for safety especially to escape cats and foxes any anything else that will eat them.

Frogs live on the land and use water bodies for breeding and some hunting.

I have read this on the net, but I am yet to be convinced. There are a large number in the pond but difficult to count except at breeding time. I am not sure they can even get out from under the grid. I have never seen them out of the pond and the garden is pretty small and hard to escape from. So I am guessing they stay in there lurking in the mud. Every now and then I see one or two but never them all at once (that is only during breeding time). I see baby ones out and about but only in August/Sept normally. They are tiny and small enough to hop out through the grid.

Maybe the combination of the grid + plentiful pond life has created a group of deviant frogs. They are pretty big. The biggest about the size of the palm of my hand.

I think the tunnel is going to happen ! I want the tunnel entrance to come out underneath the shrubs. So the cat can't lie in wait and ambush them.

Pulmonaria will spread quickly, but does die back over winter.
Evergreen ferns?
Hellebores?

Not a shrub but Hakonechloa macra looks lovely planted in a large group. Various coloured cultivars

Froglife is a great resource on frogs in the UK. https://www.froglife.org/ as is Amphibian and Reptile Conservation https://www.arc-trust.org/pages/category/reptiles-amphibians

Comfrey will grow well in shade and then you will have a source of stuff to make plant food with too. The frogs must be able to get out of the pond. Like others say, they need to be on land to find food. They eat insects and slugs. Giving the frogs cover will protect them from the cats. Don't worry about it not being spiky.

Ceanothis needs lots of sun so that won't work.
If it's a damp area you could try a hydrangea as they are ok with less sun.
Laurel has leaves which give off cynide gas so that won't be very good for the frogs.

You could try bugle if the land is not dry.
I just bought some for a container in a shady spot. Apparently it spreads.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/742/ajuga-reptans/details