Emily Flores
We often focus on plants that attract pollinators or repel pests when creating a garden. However, our gardens can support less commonly thought of wildlife, such as snakes. These creatures help maintain a balanced ecosystem by controlling pest populations and contributing to biodiversity. Depending on whether you want snakes around or want to discourage them from your space, these are 15 flowers to plant or avoid.
Lavender
Many gardeners choose lavender for its fragrant purple flowers and aromatic silver-green foliage. Lavender’s ability to blossom in several soil types and its resistance to drought are other reasons to love it. However, lavender plants’ dense, bushy growth habit results in excellent ground cover, which can hide reptiles, and the tightly packed leaves and stems give them a cool, shaded spot.
Hostas
You can’t help but love the large, lush leaves of hostas that come in various colors and patterns, including shades of green, blue, and variegated forms. In the summer, they are even more eye-catching as they produce delicate flower spikes. These plants flourish in shaded places and grow in dense clusters, with broad, overlapping leaves creating a thick canopy.
Daylilies
Daylilies have vibrant, trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom profusely throughout the summer. They grow in dense, clumping formations with thick, strap-like leaves that arch gracefully. Daylilies are highly adaptable, thriving in various soil conditions and requiring minimal care. At their base, they have shaded microhabitats that snakes can use.
Bamboo
Bamboo snowballs into dense thickets, creating natural screens and windbreaks. It is also highly adaptable to different climates and soil types. Its tall, slender canes and lush foliage offer plenty of cover and vertical spaces to move through, which is ideal for snakes.
Elephant Ears
The large and broad leaves of Elephant ears earn this plant its name. Elephant Ears are tropical plants that grow in bunches and can reach impressive sizes that create substantial cover and shade. The thick, fleshy leaves and dense growth habit provide an ideal hiding environment for snakes, particularly in moist garden areas.
Fountain Grass
This plant’s graceful, arching stems and feathery plumes make it endearing. It forms dense clumps of slender, green blades that turn golden in the fall, providing year-round visual interest.
Maiden Grass
This versatile and attractive ornamental grass can get quite tall. The narrow, arching leaves fashion dense clumps, and its feathery plumes, swaying gracefully in the breeze, are elegant.
Vinca
Vinca, also known as Periwinkle, is a popular groundcover plant with glossy green leaves and charming blue or purple flowers. The plant flourishes in both sun and shade. It spreads quickly and fashions dense mats of foliage that cover the ground effectively.
English Ivy
English Ivy is a fast-growing evergreen vine with dense, dark green foliage ideal for covering walls, fences, and ground areas. Its hardiness and adaptability make it a great addition to any garden. The thick mats of leaves it forms offer excellent hiding spots and a cool environment for snakes.
Boston Fern
This plant serves as houseplants and garden ferns with lush, feathery fronds that create a cascading effect. Bostons are valued for their air-purifying qualities. They blossom in shaded, moist environments and forge dense bunches of foliage, and the thick, arching fronds concoct a cool, humid microhabitat.
Maidenhair Fern
The fan-shaped fronds are among the things that make the Maidenhair interesting. These plants thrive in shaded, wet environments and fashion dense clumps of foliage. The fine, feathery leaves create a cool, humid environment.
Boxwood
These shrubs are a staple in formal garden designs because of their dense, evergreen foliage and ability to be pruned into several shapes. Boxwoods are highly adaptable, tolerating different soil conditions. Their small, rounded leaves forge tight, compact hedges that provide excellent cover for reptiles and protect them from predators and the elements.
Juniper Shrubs
Gardeners love juniper shrubs for their hardy nature and diverse range of forms, from low-growing groundcovers to tall, upright varieties. The needle-like or scale-like leaves create a dense, textured appearance. They provide great cover for reptiles, and their thick foliage protects them from predators and extreme weather.
Tulips
The vibrant, cup-like tulips bloom in various colors during the spring. While their blooms are seasonal, the thick, strappy leaves that emerge alongside the flowers mean cover for snakes during the growing season. The leaves create shaded parts at ground level, which snakes can use for concealment.
Daffodils
Daffodils are cheerful, trumpet-shaped flowers that herald the arrival of spring. These easy-to-care-for flowers have bright yellow or white blooms complemented by thick, strappy leaves that provide great ground cover. These dense leaves create cool areas that snakes find attractive for hiding.
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