Creeping Charlie IS a creep

Creeping Charlie in our front yard; I pulled it out
a few inches from the brick edging of this garden.
 
    Is your lawn inhabited by Creeping Charlie? It's fair to blame your ancestors as being part of the problem posed by this insidious weed/plant/ivy/mint cousin.

    Known as glechoma hederacea, the ivy was introduced to North America by early settlers who thought it would be a good choice for shady places in a yard. It is also called Creeping Jenny, ground ivy, or gill-on-the-ground, according to the University of Wisconsin Extension service.

    A variegated form of the plant is sold, sometimes, for hanging baskets.

    We think of the ivy as a nuisance, it can be found in many places around our one-acre yard in rural Scott County, Iowa.

    As you can see from the photo, I fight the ivy with various implements, including a weeder and a hand cultivator. 

    My husband uses a commercial herbicide (Trimec) for the ivy that is intertwined with grass in our backyard.

    Creeping Charlie does have a charming side -- it includes pretty purple flowers in springtime.

    But most gardeners find it insidious, resilient and adaptable. It is darn hard to eradicate.

    Still, many will try (incessantly) to deal with it. I, for example, weed it away from the stones that surround our gardens. Husband Steve deals with in the middle of the yard.

    Home repair expert Bob Vila offers several ways to handle Creeping Charlie on a website.

    It's a difficult task to get rid of the plant entirely, according to Vila, who explains it is also a member of the mint family. When crushed, Creeping Charlie even smells like mint.

    The website suggests hand cultivators for instances like I face. It's important to get the weed out by the roots, and to capture all the debris, not leaving anything in the soil.

    Other methods includes smothering a patch of Creeping Charlie: This requires cardboard, newspaper, some bricks or stones. If any other plant is among the Creeping Charlie, it will die, too, so one has to be careful where this process is used. Cover the plant for at least a week, it's suggested. Peek underneath the cardboard/newspaper and if the troublesome weed is brown, it is dead!

    Even more methods include spraying vinegar on the weed, or using a naturally organic citrus oil.

    Ridding one's life of a weed like this one takes patience and perseverance.

    Good luck!

    

    

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