Dealing with invasive plants can be very difficult — but dealing with invasive plants that are intentionally being kept around for sentimental reasons can be even more difficult than that, as one Redditor recently displayed.
Turning to the r/Gardening subreddit for advice, the poster wrote: "At my parent's for the weekend. Their ivy is literally coming inside the house...! I'm aware this is awful for their house. It's a sentimental problem at this point. My mom passed away in 2015 and she was a huge fan of the ivy aesthetic. She wouldn't have let it get this bad though. Oof."
Although the poster was clearly aware that the ivy was a problem, they might not have been aware of just how dire the problem was. Luckily, many of their fellow Redditors were quick to offer advice, warnings, and recommendations for how to gently push their father into accepting that the problem had to be dealt with.
"Please get rid of as much of it as possible," one commenter wrote. "I've seen it thread its way through brick. I don't think your mother would want the house destroyed."
"Have you talked to your Dad about how this is destroying the home?" wrote another. "This will cause serious structure and water damage for either him, or whoever ends up with house, to have to correct."
Another chimed in: "Take some clippings of the ivy to propitiate inside the house so the sentiment is still there. My Gram loved Lilly of the valley but that s*** is so invasive that at my new home I only use planter boxes for them. I would be destroyed if someone removed all of the flowers (regardless of the damage they cause) bc she is gone & it makes me smile to see something that she loved caring for. Good luck & I hope you find a solution."
As other commenters pointed out, despite the visual appeal, ivy was likely not the right choice for this house in the first place, as it can spread out of control and cause all sorts of problems. In addition to destroying literal houses, invasive English ivy can also suppress native plant growth, damaging the entire ecosystem.
Whenever you are deciding on plants to install around your home, it is always a good idea to do some research to ensure that you end with native plants that fit into the ecosystem, can coexist with other native plant life, and don't end up ripping through your walls and causing tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage.
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