What is creeping Charlie?

Creeping Charlie identification is usually easy: square stems, round scalloped leaves in pairs, a minty smell and purple flowers in spring. Also called ground ivy, it’s a perennial in the mint family brought over from Europe, likely as a medicinal and groundcover plant.

It spreads by creeping stems that root at every joint, building a mat that grows under the grass blades where mowers can’t reach. It loves the same conditions that make grass struggle: shade, damp soil and low fertility.

That’s why it often wins in shady side yards, under big maples and along north-facing foundations. Spray alone rarely solves it. Fixing the conditions is what keeps it from coming back.

Creeping Charlie identification: what to look for

• Stems: square in cross-section, the classic mint-family trait. They creep along the ground and send down roots at each node.
• Leaves: round to kidney-shaped, about half an inch to an inch and a half across, with rounded, scalloped teeth. They grow in opposite pairs on long stalks.
• Smell: crush a leaf and you’ll get a strong minty, slightly skunky scent. Mowing a patch fills the yard with it.
• Flowers: small purple-blue, two-lipped funnels clustered where the leaves meet the stem, mainly from April into June.
• Habit: stays low, usually a few inches tall, forming a dense mat that weaves through turf and into beds.

A quick field test: pull up a runner. If it’s square, smells minty and has tiny roots at every pair of leaves, you’ve got creeping Charlie.

Where it grows in Pennsylvania

Ground ivy is found in lawns and landscapes across the state. It does best in damp, shady areas: under trees, along the north and east sides of buildings, in low spots that stay wet, and in beds next to the lawn.

It tolerates full sun too, especially on soggy ground. In central PA, it’s common in older neighborhoods with mature shade trees and in yards where heavy clay soil holds water after a rain.

Many yards inherit it. Ground ivy was once grown on purpose as a groundcover and herb, and it travels easily from a neighbor’s lawn or a wooded edge into yours along fences and bed borders. A patch that starts at the property line can cover a good part of a shady side yard within a few seasons.

Creeping Charlie look-alikes

Henbit and purple deadnettle are mint-family cousins with square stems and purplish flowers, and they bloom at the same time. Both are winter annuals that grow upright from a single root and disappear by early summer. Creeping Charlie creeps, roots as it goes and stays all season.

Common mallow has a similar round, scalloped leaf, but it has round stems, alternate leaves, a taproot and no minty smell. Creeping speedwell forms a mat too, but its leaves are much smaller and its flowers are pale blue.

How to get rid of creeping Charlie

Expect this to take more than one season. Every stem piece left behind can root, so combine methods.

• Hand removal: works on small or young patches. After a soaking rain, rake the runners up, follow each one back and pull it out, roots and all. Bag the pieces.
• Beds: pull it out, then apply 2 to 3 inches of mulch. Edge beds cleanly so it can’t tunnel in from the lawn.
• Turf health: mow higher, around 3.5 inches, fertilize in fall, and overseed thin spots with shade-tolerant fine fescues. Thin the tree canopy if possible to let more light in.
• Drainage: if it rules the wettest corner of the yard, fix the water. Regrading or a drain can turn a soggy patch into ground where grass can compete.
• Lawn herbicides: extension services recommend selective broadleaf products containing triclopyr, often combined with 2,4-D, dicamba or MCPP. Fall application is the most effective, with a second treatment in spring around bloom. Repeat applications are usually needed. Don’t apply dicamba over tree and shrub root zones.

Read and follow the product label (the label is the law) and confirm it’s labeled for your site. Iowa State Extension specifically advises against the old borax remedy, which can damage soil and plants. In Pennsylvania, applying herbicides for hire requires a PA Department of Agriculture pesticide applicator certification, so big infestations are best handled by a licensed lawn-care company.

Keeping it from coming back

The long-term answer is giving grass the upper hand. Keep mowing high, feed the lawn in fall, overseed every year or two in shady areas, and let in more light where you can.

Watch the edges. Creeping Charlie sneaks back in from neighboring yards and bed borders, so check those spots in spring when the flowers make it easy to spot. Where grass simply won’t grow in deep shade, consider converting the area to a mulched bed or a shade-tolerant planting. Our landscaping and bed work page shows what that can look like.

Questions we get about creeping charlie (ground ivy)

Similar weeds

HenbitLamium amplexicaulePurple DeadnettleLamium purpureumCreeping SpeedwellVeronica filiformis