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| I have just read all the threads about invasive plants. Creeping Charlie or Ground Ivy was mentioned several times. We just moved into our house late last summer and one whole area filled with Ground Ivy (as we call it). I have to be vigilant to keep it out of a large daylily bed that it is adjacent to.
Is there any way to get rid of the stuff? We have a Boxer who already has an immume disease, so I'd like to try something organic. But, this stuff is so bad, that we may have to rope off areas and treat with what ever works! Thanks for your help,
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by shadeyplace 7a (My Page) on Sun, Mar 25, 07 at 7:28
| There is a product called CONFRONT but it is not available to homeowners. If you use a broadleaf herbacide you may have to use it more than one time. Ground ivy is very difficult to get rid of...I have to battle it constantly by just pulling and making sure I get all the roots and then still it seems it always comes back. You could use roundup if it is in a place where you don't care if you kill anything else around it. It is always a problem for me as are many other weeds... ;0( |
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| This is a problem that is not going to be addressed with either organic and/or home remedies. And please... before someone offers the mindless home remedy of borax... DO NOT USE BORAX! (as in the product, 20-Mule Team Borax). I have personally talked with the people at Iowa State University who originally did the borax research which the press picked-up way too prematurely. Those same folks at ISU empahtically state not to use borax as a treatment for Creeping Charlie / Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) . The borax product contains the element Boron. Boron is a trace element found in most soils. In minute amounts, it can be a good thing. However, this element becomes very nasty when just a little too much is present. This problem is further compounded by the long-term nature of Boron's presence -- it just doesn't go away. The original research found that if you raise the Boron level high enough, it will actually kill Glechoma hederacea. However, the problem is that if you put on just a little too much, it will kill your lawn too! In fact, you will have made that portion of your ground effectively sterile -- perhaps for the rest of your lifetime unless you physically remove that contaminated soil from your yard or perform other extraordinary measures. The problem is further compounded by an enormous number of variables. Different soil types, climate, amount of organic material, regional conditions, etc., etc, all contribute to varying effects on the "proper amount" that will not also be toxic to your grass and other plants. Realistically, a home owner has no way of telling EXACTLY how much will be too much. ***Another example of horticultural misinformation! IronBelly |
Here is a link that might be useful: Control of Creeping Charlie
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| O.K. I'm a bit insane I guess. I've been trying to get this plant to survive for years in various gardens and I can't seem to keep it alive! Of course now that I know it's an invasive I'll find it taking over the gardens this year. I do love the flowers so. Anyway, just wondering is this a native U.S. species or is it an invasive exotic? Personally,I rather see a sea of this than a well manicured lawn, but if it's something that will make enemies out of neighbors I don't want it around. |
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- Posted by birdnesthead 5 Rochester NY (My Page) on Sun, Mar 25, 07 at 16:51
| I think the thing to do is think of it as free therapy. After a rough day at work, go outside and think about ripping your boss's hair out by the roots. Before you know it, you will feel better and your lawn will look better, and you will not have exposed yourself, your pets, and local wildlife to anything toxic. |
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| ironbelly, thank you so much for the info and the link. I copied that page and am keeping it for reference. You are right about Borax and it's not something that I would ever consider using on the lawn. As to just pulling it out, well, we're talking about a huge area. I just wish it was such a small amount that I COULD go out back and pull it out for therapy! Linda |
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| I and my roses and lilies and phlox and delphiniums and clematis and everything - have learned to live with it. When it gets too crazy - like climbing upwards - I pull it; it never goes away completely; but I don't THINK it's actually hurt anything - yet. |
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| I had a severe ground ivy infestation covering 1/2 of my back lawn. It took a couple of years, but I successfully got rid of it all by hand pulling, an hour at a time. My next door neighbor has it in their lawn, so I have to remain vigilant for new seedlings, but this approach has worked. And yes, it's very theraputic! |
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- Posted by dkathrens77 8a (My Page) on Mon, Jun 18, 07 at 1:42
| We bought a house here in the Denver Metro area, and the back yard is about 90% Creeping Charlie! The rest is prostrate knotweed and dandelions (along with just a little grass). We are very interested in environmentally friendly ways of reclaiming a green healthy lawn composed of grass, and we appreciate the comments posted here. My approach has been to simply uproot a 3 by 3 foot area. I drag a running hose along with me to soften up the dirt, which makes uprooting this stuff much easier. At the same time, as those 6 to 9 inch tap roots slide out, the water runs in! I have mulched these patches of bare dirt (the grass was completely choked out)with lawn clippings from the front yard (which is in pretty good shape) and I will water them to encourage the surviving weeds to poke up through, so I can uproot them too. After that happens, I will till these areas and plant grass seed. I'm not a gardener -- this is my first attempt. I know I need to get a soil test done to determine pH, and fertilize too. As a kid I always hated lawn mowing, as we had a 4 acre yard and Dad always bought these worn-out push mowers at garage sales. Heck, I was 14 before I learned that lawnmowers had mufflers! But now, I find it feels good to be improving this little patch of ground for the enjoyment of mmyself and my family. And yes, I find it therapeutic too, although I see afterimages of weeds when close my eyes. |
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| I use a rake after a rain. It pulls up most of the runners and I hand-pull whatever's left. I agree that it's good therapy. I like the ripping sound and it smells quite good. |
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| It's interesting that so many people find CC so difficult to control. It was not a huge pest in my garden when I moved in (not like the bindweed and this unfortunate grass that stolons around underground) but it was around. It disappeared obligingly after maybe two hits of ordinary 2,4-D and I am now able to keep it down it by hand-pulling. IB, thanks for the information about borax. I'd read somewhere about this idea, but had never tried it. Glad I didn't! It is depressing how readily "home remedies" take on a life of their own. |
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| Borax is not at all as dire as Dan ( IronBelly) paints it. Do your own research. U of I and U of Wisconsin and U or Minnesota call it effective and give recipes for application. All recognize the dangers of over application...but you won't do that will you? Any pesticide or fertilizer carries similar dangers. But, unless you apply the borax at such a heavy concentration that it kills all the turf grass, the boron in the soil becomes concentrated in the growing tips of grass, and if you remove the clippings for a year or 2 you will have brought the boron in the soil closer to normal, even if you do over dose. BUT...you say you have a dog with auto immune issues, and under the circumstances, I would not be putting borax where he runs. For years and years we pur boric acid ( essentially a borax solution!) in the eyes of tiny babies, we used boric acid powder on their little rashed bottoms and mostly nothing happened...but that's introducing a chemical they don't need into their system! I would apply a corn gluten weed preventative in early spring, then rake like crazy the rest of the summer....and perhaps do more corn gluten in early September. Repeat the next year and you should have pretty good control over the problem....without harmful chemicals. Linda C |
Here is a link that might be useful: Borax control of ground ivy
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| I have very good luck removing creeping charlie - I do it once a week (from the same spot in the yard)! I don't smoke, but I've heard some people say that they know they can quit smoking because they've done it so many times before...LOL! Seriously, though, like any invasive weed, it takes time, patience and lots of effort, over a long period of time. Dig it out, and when it comes back, dig it up again, and again and again...even when you take two steps forward and one step back, if you keep taking steps, you will make progress. I got rid of some around a tree in the middle of my lawn, and it took time, but it's just about gone now...no chemicals, no Boron, no Round Up, just me, my shovel and my determination. Good Luck! |
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- Posted by topsiebeezelbub z7 Al (My Page) on Sat, May 25, 13 at 15:55
| I like it...change your attitude...much easier. |
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| I have it in huge sections of my lawn and I could live with it if it didn't constantly creep into flower beds. And it seeds around. I'd spend the rest of my life trying to hand weed it out of my lawn. |
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- Posted by echinaceamaniac 7 (My Page) on Sun, May 26, 13 at 10:04
| I once read that this plant likes poor soil. They said you can kill it with fertilizer. However, I'd try ripping it out and covering the area with cardboard or something else like black plastic. If you leave the black plastic on all summer, it should smother and the hot sun will fry it. Think of this stuff like those monsters in the movie Alien. You have to go all Sigourney Weaver on it! Show it no mercy at all. I hate this plant. It stinks too. |
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| The drought that hit us last summer, killed the small patch I had. So its not a problem anymore. |
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- Posted by dominoswrath 5 WI (My Page) on Thu, May 30, 13 at 16:27
| It has taken over my neighbors yard and has crept into mine, but I've been successful and diligent at pulling it out over the years and treating our lawn with organic fertilizer to make the grass stronger. Neighbors on the other side of us tilled up their entire lawn and replanted grass, only to have creeping charlie grow back along with the grass. All for naught. But they never did anything else to get rid of it or prevent it from spreading, before or since. And then they decided to plant ivy along my fenceline. Duh. I have read that adding lime to your soil in the spring before the forsythia blooms is supposed to help get rid of it. |
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- Posted by dominoswrath 5 WI (My Page) on Thu, May 30, 13 at 16:30
| p.s. organic fertilizer and weed control as in Cockadoodle Doo or Chickity Doo-doo. My lawn is awesome. And no I'm not affiliated with these products. |
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| I am also instantly pulling this stuff out. The one good thing I can say about it is that the bees love it. |
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| A very rigid rake and over planting grass seed will do the trick. If you get your grass thick enough it will choke out charlie. I had a small Suburban yard that was almost all charlie. Every Saturday morning it was my therapy of raking the back yard. When we had a rainy week I would throw grass seed out. By the end of summer I was free of charlie in the lawn. |
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- Posted by tamela_star Zone 8a (My Page) on Sun, Jun 2, 13 at 15:10
| I had it in my garden along with Virginia creeper, and the perriwinkle vinca vine. I got fed up with them and I took a small rake and just dug them up and pulled them out of my garden. It took a few hours and a couple of days, but it was worth the hard work. I didn't put them there myself, and they will come back. When I see a single sprout of one I weed it out of my garden right away. I hate those plants, and I'm glad I have it under control. They even choked out a passiflora vine! |
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