Making war on Creeping Charlie


Creeping Charlie is an invasive plant in many states. At top, I've pulled all of it out of an area; above, I'm working on part of what is a "gutter" running next to cobbie stone border.

Our home is in rural Scott County, and we own about an acre of land. The fact that it's in a rural area, and includes landscaping, adds up to be space for a common criminal in the groundcover world: Creeping Charlie.

This plant, useful in some ways, goes wild when uncontrolled. It is very, very prolific.

My war has gone on for years, but I am determined. Last week I pulled Creeping Charlie out of my husband's veggie garden. This raised bed is easy on the back muscles but Creeping Charlie was everywhere. I filled two 15-gallon containers, and one of those large, paper, yard waste bags.

This week I was on hands and knees, pulling Creeping Charlie out of the "gutters" that edge the cobbie stone boundaries of the garden areas in the yard.

That's when I first considered this blog and took photos.

According to HGTV (hgtv.com) Creeping Charlie is Glechoma hederacea, a cousin to the mint plant and similar to Creeping Jenny. It has round green leaves with scalloped edges, and little blue flowers in the springtime. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?

It is a perennial, which means it comes back every year, like it or not.

The best way to get rid of Creeping Charlie is to pull it by hand. The deal is, you need to get every piece of every plant out of the ground or it will come back. It also is almost impossible to do this, so you need to repeat the actions, as necessary.

Like the blog title says, it's a war.

The invasive plant was brought to the United States by well-intentioned 17th Century European gardeners, who thought the groundcover would work well in the New World. The HGTV website reports it has settled in nicely over the centuries; if uncontrolled it will make a large soft green carpet-like mat. Goats won't even eat it because it gives them a stomach ache!

Hints from HGTV:

* Hand-pull the plants. Trim each plant so you can see where it enters the ground. Throw any trimmings away or they will re-root.
* Either water the ground, or make your attack after it has rained. Damp soil means the plant's roots are less likely to hold tight in the soil.
* Make sure you get all parts of the plant; use a pitch fork, trowel or fork (I have a weeding tool) to examine the ground you've torn up. Throw all plant parts away; do not leave on the lawn.
* Repeat as necessary over the next few weeks.
* Good luck!

Creeping Charlie is kind of pretty, at times. Once it was right out front of our house, in bloom, and the kids loved it.

I just like to keep the plant under control, somehow.


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