Getting Rid of Creeping Charlie

Question:

Hardiness Zone: 6a

Trisha from Ontario Canada

Answer:

This is never the popular answer, but my personal recommendation is to try to control Creeping Charlie by pulling it out. You probably won't completely eliminate it this way, but you can certainly keep it under control, and your yard and garden will be healthier for it. Pulling can be done by hand or you can use a spading fork or dethatching rake. The best time to jump start this project is late summer or early fall. Pre-moistening the soil will make it easy to lift the plants out.

Many well-intentioned folks (including some nurseries) may suggest using Borax to get rid of Creeping Charlie. I don't recommend it, and here's why. The University of Minnesota and Iowa State University have both conducted studies on using boron, a chemical contained in household Borax, to control Creeping Charlie. As a micronutrient, boron helps plants transport sugars. Studies have found that giving small amounts of excess boron to Creeping Charlie has a toxic effect on the plants. The problem is that applying it is a total crapshoot. No one recipe will work on every lawn due to the varying levels of boron found in individual sites. Without a soil test, it's extremely easy to apply too much. An over-application will burn your lawn and will injure (and/or kill) surrounding plants. Even if it works, it doesn't guarantee that Creeping Charlie will never show up again. Your best defense against Creeping Charlie and other weeds is to maintain a healthy lawn through good cultural practices.

Ellen

About The Author:
Ellen Brown is our Green Living and Gardening Expert. Click here to ask Ellen a question! Ellen Brown is an environmental writer and photographer and the owner of Sustainable Media, an environmental media company that specializes in helping businesses and organizations promote eco-friendly products and services. Contact her on the web at http://www.sustainable-media.com

Feedback About This Post:

RE: Getting Rid of Creeping Charlie

I've had to major weeds one wild violets and creeping charlie. I had it so bad that that's all my yard was in the back. I still deal a little with it today a few plants but really nothing esp. with what I started out with. I started using weed be gone about 4 yrs ago and would put to applications on a year spring /fall. It killed a lot but what I did this year helped so much. I applied weed be gone at first then 4 days later I applied Bayer weed killer not lawn killer. Then after that I waited 1 1/2 weeks and applied Bayer again. It worked well very well. You will lose a little green to your lawn didn't kill any I just applied fertilizer 2 weeks later and it greened right up.

Post By Enter your name. (Guest Post)

RE: Getting Rid of Creeping Charlie

True happening: I threw borax soap full strenghth on the Charlie, cause it was going to rain. Okay, I had a huge brown dead spot, however, I raked up the dead grass and Charlie & now it's the best spot I have in the yard.

Post By Mikey (Guest Post)

RE: Keeping Your Camera with You

I could not agree more. Several more suggestions:

Take as many photos as you can fit on your card. (You never know when you will get that absolute gem, and you can always delete them later!)

Learn to use a good photo-editing software package. I have turned some mediocre photos into priceless momentos by zooming, cropping, re-touching, etc. It isn't that hard to learn, and is worth every penny spent! For example, I might pair that gorgeous horse scene above with a close up of just the horses. Also, sometimes it is hard to center something in the frame, or maybe your camera won't take photos as close up as you might like the photo to be--say, of a flower where you would like the blossom to fill the frame. Back off a bit, zoom your camera in and snap. At home, you can crop more of the background out of the photo.

Hey, you've got the camera, the memory card, and the rechargable battery....why not take lots--it doesn't cost much! Thanks for reminding us, Joseph!

Post by Jilson

RE: Keeping Your Camera with You

Joseph,
Well stated. A very wonderful idea. There are many times I wished I had my camera! You took a nice photograph of the horses.
Jennifer CA

Post by jjager

RE: Getting Rid of Creeping Charlie

I took a chance with Boron usage for another purpose: Apple Tree fruiting improvement. I sprinkled it all around the drip line like sugaring Cinnamon Toast and got good results this year. The Boron did nothing but improve my black clay soil, I suppose. It did no harm to the St. Augustine and Bermuda mixed grass around the base, as well.

Perhaps I lucked out, but then, I am pulling the weeds out as they appear, and sometimes think they're winning, but know that with an organic lawn and yard, they will eventually lose almost completely! Trouble is, the grub worms LOVE the organic element and had a party with my St. Augustine in the front yard this year. Now I'm nurturing it back to fill in dead spots with used coffee grounds, and they have worked, as long as I use enough! I hope to get my friend to get a soil sample for me to see what's up. Evidently a lack of funds/fertilizer was the main problem with this gardening/lawn science.

The used coffee grounds are free from Starbucks if you can catch them with several bags to make the trip worthwhile. I've had to make more than sixteen trips and gotten more than two bags each time since they're just about a mile away, but that's only on 1/2 of the front lawn and a LOT of spreading by hand. I tried a spreader but the coffee grounds are always too wet and would take way too long to dry beforehand. At least the boron worked for another purpose and the hand weed pulling has been successful! Too bad we can't leave them creeping around for the areas that on which nothing else will grow. LOL God bless you as you work and research. : )

Post By Lynda (Guest Post)

RE: Getting Rid of Creeping Charlie

I found this on:
http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/Featu...

Controlling Creeping Charlie

Borax has been touted as an organic control for creeping Charlie, but research at both the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State University has shown that borax is typically not very effective and can injure turf and other plants as well, causing stunting and yellowing. Borax contains boron, which is necessary in very small amounts for plant growth but is toxic in larger doses. Creeping Charlie happens to be extremely sensitive to boron, so supplying more boron should be detrimental to it more than other plants, such as grass, that aren't as sensitive. However, since boron availability in the soil depends on soil type and pH, it's difficult to determine just how much boron should be applied in any one place. And there's little room for error: too little results in poor control and too much injures surrounding plants. Also, boron doesn't break down or dissipate in the soil, so repeated or excessive applications can result in bare areas where no vegetation can grow.

The best means of controlling creeping Charlie is with a postemergence broadleaf herbicide. As with any pesticide, always read and follow label directions. The best choice for homeowners is a weed killer containing salt of dicamba (3, 6-dichloro-o-anisic acid). This active ingredient is often found in combination products, such as Trimec or Three Way Lawn Weed Killer, so check the ingredient list on the label to see if it contains dicamba. The other chemicals in these combinations are generally 2,4-D (2, 4 dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and mecoprop or MCPP (2-(2-methly-4-chlorophenoxy) propionic acid). Products containing triclopyr or 2,4-DP may also provide decent control. These products are good for applications on lawns, but can't be used in vegetable or flower gardens as many broadleaf plants are very susceptible to these herbicides and even minimal amounts of the herbicide will cause severe injury. In those areas it's best to hand pull or hoe the invaders. If there's more creeping Charlie than grass in your lawn, it may be easier to start over by killing all the vegetation and reseeding the lawn.

Post By markz (Guest Post)

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