I also have a strange fondness for ground ivy, Glechoma hederacea, so I do understand. And it can be useful. If you want something covered, it will do that, and fairly quickly. If there is a part of the garden that you just won't get to for a couple of months..... it can be a very pretty ground cover, and will choke out at least some of the easier weeds. And it makes a very nice tea [grin].

It also roots and runners pretty much in the surface soil, and so is easy to weed out in mats. And it responds decently to mowing.... Gets short, but still looks nice. And it's comfy on bare feet.

Your concern about the neighbors' yards is good. But the odds are that they also have this as a part of their yard, already. If they are truly concerned about a "pure grass lawn", they probably treat for weeds, and that would deal with most of it.

Depending on how long the fence line is...... The only true barrier to the runners is a sunken solid barrier, at least 3-4 inches deep. Something like strips of sheet metal. But ground ivy is not that big a problem, truly. Unless you get complaints from the neighbors, don't worry about it.

Yet........ Trenches can help. Not because they will stop the expansion of the ground ivy much at all in late spring or summer, but because ground ivy is much easier to remove from mulch than from established soil surfaces. The trench around your veggie bed.... Mulch it heavily. Tomorrow would be good [grin].

Then, you can occasionally 'tut-tut' at the ground ivy, and explain to it again that it cannot have the entire yard, as you rip back the encroaching mat. Without the mulch, you need to do some work to track down the runners... Repeatedly. I always like the "minimal work" option [grins].

I'm so glad someone else likes creeping charlie! We have such a short growing season here that it's wonderful to see something that grows fast and has a long bloom time.

Eventually, tho, charlie is going to invade your hostas, and neighbor's fence. Two solutions would be to either keep on it, and pull it up where you don't want it, or use a product like Preen in the area you don't want it to grow.

I like this plant also, since it it so short it seldom slows down or dominates other plants. I have newly installed a genuine lawn and intend to use chemicals to stop anything but grass, but this plant has been here for years and has not outstayed its welcome. I am sure it will wheedle its way into any area the moment you turn your back. If the common name was galloping ned, I would understand.

Anyone out there that can share a picture? I think I have creeping Charlie, but I'm not sure. New to this business.

Stepables.com lists and shows photos of both the golden and normal colored kinds under the common name 'creeping jenny'. Mine don't even seem to be budding yet. It is also called moneywort, but not in all places. I believe it is properly named Lysimachia nummelaria.

Does anyone know if hostas will make it through a patch of creeping charlie?

I cannot think of any of my shade plants that are challenged by creeping charlie. They are all taller. I do have some other plants in the rock garden that would suffer so the creeping charlie is not tolerated there. People might wonder what they are and a few are a tiny, ground hugging Eunomyes, Azalea 'Flame Creeper', Mazus reptans,Irish moss and some of the sedums. They are all lower and slower.

I love creeping charlie and think it's a wonderful groundcover here in Minnesota. We have a difficult, steep slope and after trying many other ground covers, we went with the natural and obvious default plant, which is creeping charlie. The purple flowers are really lovely and we've actually been receiving compliments from passers-by, some who actually used to hate creeping charlie but now see it as a free, natural and pretty groundcover. We also planted dogwood and sumac on that hill, and after years of fighting the hill, we finally have something to show off!

Sorry for the late post on this thread..... Been busy.

There seems to be a little confustication between two very different plants, here. That's the problem with common names for plants [sigh]. The names can vary so much with location.

Glechoma hederacea: Purple flowers, and of the Lamiaceae family, the mints. Most common 'common name' in my area is ground ivy. Often called creeping charlie, in many areas, and called creeping jenny in others. Older common name was gill-over-the-ground.

Lysimachia nummularia: Yellow flowers, smaller and shinier leaves. From the Primulaceae family. Most often called moneywort or pennywort, but also called both creeping jenny and creeping charlie, depending on where you are.

At least in my region, the Lysimachia/pennywort is less aggressive in its growth than the Glechoma/ground ivy.

But I do admit to a fondness for both of them [grin].

Linda

Another fan of Glechoma hederacea here. It was perfect for a deeply shaded heavy red clay backyard in a former garden. Didn't know what it was for years until I finally identified it from an article on lawnweeds. LOL

I was a new gardener, on a limited budget, with a 2 year old son to be confined in the only fenced area
which was mostly covered with this plant. It was perfect...evergreen and cool and smelled minty and
quickly recovered from heavy use by my son and his friends and their various vehicles. And I discovered that ferns and bulbs and taller perennials would grow just fine. I'll always have fond memories of this plant...josh

I also have some creeping charlie in a small section of my yard underlying an azalea and an annabelle hydrangea. The only thing I don't like about creeping charlie is that it is not until mid spring that it puts out leaves. Until that time the bare patch of ground is muddy. I used to have larger section of my backyard in CC, but it's late greening up left the yard muddy, which was a problem with the dog.

ON the plus side, CC doesn't experience salt burn (from the dog) like grass. The leafs would brown out, but quickly rebound.

Or is it really creeping jenny? check out the link below for pix. Its also know as moneywort and golden moneywort depending on the color of the leaves (either chartreause or dark green). Very pretty yellow flowers. I have some planted in my planters and some in a pot half submerged in my stream. Lysimachia nummularia

Here is a link that might be useful: type in creeping jenny to see plant at this link

Glechoma was originally used by victorians as a lawn plant/ground cover. Until the 20th century lawns were mostly trimed mixtures of grasses and ground covers, not the grass monoculture we are used to today.

Lysimachia is a nice plant too. bright yellow flowers and yellow green leaves. All the garden centers in my area sell it as 'creeping jenny', 'golden pennies', or 'yellow moneywort'. I enjoy watching people buy it and planting it in a well maintained flower bed. It's even better whern the cleck tells them its not invasive.

White Clover & Violets are two of those pesty weeds people just don't like having in their yards and go thru all sorts of lengths to get rid of. Then plant violas and johnny-jump-ups in their flowerbeds while they add nitrogen to their lawns.

I've given up trying to grow a lawn of grass. It's too much work with weeding, feeding,mowing & watering. Currently, I have a mixture of glechoma, lysimachia, white clover, barren strawberry, violets, ajuga (escapees from the neighbor), some (mint escapees from the herb bed), and whatever grass is doing ok at the time. Just around the 4th, I had red(strawberry), white(clover) and blue(ajuga &
glechoma)all over the yard as well as some yellow(lysimachia) and my 'lawn' was still green and i wasn't watering it like my neighbors-- the grow grass.

anyone know a link to a photo(s) of whatever others call creeping charley? we think our weed problem is creeping charley. If it is, I can't believe anyone likes it. Much of our sunny, clayey yard is now nothing but this weed and all amount of pulling doesn't barely slow it down.

This site has decent pictures of ground ivy, or creeping charlie. It describes the leaves as shny, and they aren't always. Mine is not shiny at all but it's definately this plant. It is distinctive because of the strong aroma when crushed, pulled, or trod upon. Also it has square stems, and purple flowers in the spring. Creeping jenny has smaller round leaves that are very bright chartreuse on the new growth. In this zone they are both evergreen. I find that both are easy to control in the shade but can get aggressive in the sun. I would never plant either in a sunny perennial bed. It is irritating that more garden centers don't warn you about the aggressiveness of some of their plants.
The original poster asked how to keep it out of the neighbors yard, which is very responsible. I didn't see if the question was answered because I didn't read all the posts. But a ditch won't work as it travels above ground. A barrier a few inches below and above would probably keep it from spreading, but it also spreads by seed so you could never guarantee it won't get in. Good luck. -Ais.

Here is a link that might be useful: creeping charlie, ground ivy

I have two variants of "Creeping Jenny" (Lysimachia nummularia) - one is the chartreuse ("Goldilocks") and the other is the regular version, which is green.

I also have Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea) which I can't stand the smell of when mowed, so I'm out to eradicate it. Here in the south, the seeds of it are germinating right now. Check your bare patches of earth and you should see the seedlings all over. They will grow all winter and devour your flowerbeds while you're not looking. Mulch is your best weapon against the seedlings, and broadleaf weedkiller works on the adults. You should also use a pre-emergent in spring and fall to keep the seeds from germinating (ask me how I know this!)

I, too, am a fan of Creeping Charlie (and Jenny) but have always called it Gill-over-the-ground. It grows in many of the garden beds, and I encourage it because of its neat habit. It should do well with hostas because their cultural requirements are similar, yet their root systems grow at different levels.

My favorite Charlie-patch (or Gill) doesn't flower (or, hence, self-sew) all that much, maybe because it is in a sunnier and faster draining location than the others. (The more shaded patches bloom more, but the patches aren't as full.) Heavily mulched, it is well-behaved and pulls out easily. (They might "jump" metal barriers.)

Thanks for the post and the link, Anna.

Water restrictions and the very high cost of lawn maintenance such as mowing, weeding etc., can make lawn grass viewed as the weed and not creeping charlie. It's a matter of perception. Personally I hate lawn grass. Creeping charlie never grows tall, so eliminates the need to mow, is quite abundant in quantity, and delightful to the eye. It stays alive whereas the lawn grass won't. In short it's decent ground cover.

I grew up in a yard that was invaded and conquered by creeping charlie, and watched my dad fight it in vain. I was horrified when I noticed it creeping into my yard last summer, but after reading the posts on here, I am in agreement with the majority. I am not a fan of mowing, and have some rather irritating allergies to grass. So, I think I will give the creeping charlie a try. Plus, when I let my housecats out to get fresh air, they always go for the creeping charlie, not the lawn grass. Go figure. The cats know what's up. I also have a 90-year old house and the old weeds taht go along with it, and I've noticed that creeping charlie will choke some of these nasty old weeds out! It is a decent ground cover. Oh, and I love the smell of it, too!

I just found this post... I wasn't sure what to do with this plant.

It took over my gardens last year - and I've been trying to keep it out of my perennial garden - but if it won't choke everything I can let it go. (I have delphiniums, hostas, peonies, several flowering shrubs, some things I can't identify and daylilies.)

If I have a very dog-trampled yard, can I transplant it from one side to the other to cover the bare patches? How should I move it?

Thanks so much!!

Creeping Charlie is ALL OVER my cottage garden. At first, I hated it, and pulled and pulled and pulled. Now, I live with it. It hasn't hurt anything, and fills in nicely. It is easy to pull, you just have to stay on it. I have hostas, and they co-exist, but again, just pull them if they get too aggressive. However, ... I've noticed it beginning to CLIMB up rose bushes, etc. - I'm not digging that too much. I also have silver beacon (lamium), and they can get a bit competitive. But I'm glad to see a few people who don't really hate Creeping Charlie too.

Very interesting post, everyone ~ Thank You.

We've come to the same conclusion in Ontario, Canada. The back yard is luscious and green in any drought condition. We also like the smell.

The entire back yard is surrounded by patio or garden. The creeper will grow in runners over top the stone and mulch. Two or three times a year, we simply pull it out, from the perimiter of the lawn, to maintain the edge and prevent spreading. Grass still grows around the creeper, throughout the yard, so the lawn is beautiful.

We've slowly come to the conclusion that dandelions aren't growning in the back yard... No other weeds, but creeper and grass.

The front yard, on the other hand, is a different story. We live beside a park, and the city maintenance crews and snow plows make a mess of the first 8 feet in... Plus, the city maintained park does not use herbicides, so the dandelions, and other weeds we can't even identify, are rampant. Not to mention people walking their dogs that think it's acceptable to let their pets use the lawn as a toilet.

This morning, we thought of the brilliant idea to transplant creeper along the edge of the front yard, and let it go.... "Can't be any worse than what we're already looking at..."

So, after searching the web, and finding hundreds of sites detailing how to control it (instead of enjoy it), we finally found you!

(Now we know we're not crazy.)

So, the plan is to pull out some runners, and simply place them on fresh, black earth, raked into the ruts at the edge of the lawn... We'll try a couple of shallow shovel fulls of creeper, too...

We'll keep you posted.

Growing up, our yard had quite a lot of creeping charlie. The neighbors hate it, my Mom disliked it, my Dad tolerated it. But I always loved it. It's very pretty and smells great!

I recently inherited my childhood home and am now living in it...along with the creeping charlie. It brings back fond memories of growing up and my Mom and Dad. If I ever move, I will be sure to take some 'charlie' with me.

Regarding controlling it, like the other folks say, you can pull it up in big handfuls because the roots are just on the surface. It grows fast, so keep after it!

When I moved into my completely shaded house in Minnesota the only thing growing in our back yard was moss due to a drainage problem. My husband made a drainage ditch and this little plant started growing and growing. I love it. The only problem I have is it seems to be growing up my Clematis vines which are on trellises. Will it hurt the Clematis or will it just grow along side it? The Charlie does not seem to be choking any of my plants (hostas, lily of the valley, ferns, Clematis, etc.) Though it has gotten tall enough that I have transplanted some of those plants to another area because they couldn't bee seen through the Charlie. To the first poster, the Charlie is growing down the sides and across the drainage ditch so I don't think that idea is going to work.

does it completely die down for the winter