Homeowner Warns Others To Avoid Invasive Snake-Attracting Plant: 'It Will Take Over'

My wife and I are fans of the long-running British crime drama "Midsomer Murders." The grisly stories are often set in bucolic English country villages, and many of the aged brick homes where the murders occur are covered in beautiful English ivy (Hedera helix). On occasion, my wife has expressed a desire to include climbing plants as part of our own home's exterior styling. My answer has always been a resounding: "No!" Here's why.

Redditor notbriebryant sums up my feelings on this perfectly, posting on the homeowners subreddit: "Please for the sake of your neighbors and the next homeowner who will curse you in her sleep, resist the urge to plant an invasive demon ivy. It knows no property lines and will take over other plants, fences, siding, or anything slow moving in its path. Just don't." I agree on this wholeheartedly, because climbing plants, especially English ivy, can harm the construction of your house, and also open the proverbial door to unwanted visitors.

While other popular plants like buckthorn serve as magnets for ticks, English ivy can often be slithering with snakes or crawling with rats. And, trust me when I say this, you don't want to have to worry about snakes or rats making their way into your house.

English ivy is a vibrant, green vine plant that grows between USDA hardiness zones 4 and 9. Though it can be successfully grown as a ground cover crop, there are numerous reasons you won't want to do that. To piggyback off of notbriebryant's claim, Redditor mbryn4 commented: "As the 'next homeowner' in that next situation, I agree. Been fighting ivy for a year with minimal success." And, as we mentioned, apart from ivy being one of those invasive garden plants that you want to avoid, it can also be a prefect harboring for pests.

The coverage provided by the ivy's foliage makes for excellent hiding places for snakes. Owing to the fact that they are cold-blooded reptiles, snakes need shade and sun in order to regulate their body temperatures. Even worse than snakes, at least in this writer's opinion, are rats. English ivy has the perfect thick foliage these pesky rodents require to build their sheltered colonies. And as much fun as it has been to occasionally see my cats take out these vile critters, the less they make their way into my home, the better.

So, while English ivy might be incredibly beautiful and lend your home a cozy, Oxfordshire countryside vibe, I have to side with the Redditors on this one. Avoid it. At all costs.