Day 202: Cheerful though he may be, Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea) has plans to take over your lawn and garden. It has a long list of regional common names: ground-ivy, field balm, gill-over-the-ground and my favourite, run-away-robin. It is a member of the Lamiaceae family, and is related to mint. Now those of you who have ever grown mint will have a better picture of what I mean when I say it is "persistent." You're still digging out bits of that peppermint you planted twenty years ago, aren't you? Creeping Charlie takes "persistent" to a whole new level, one which makes your peppermint seem tame by comparison. It is almost impossible to eliminate without resorting to herbicides due to its vining nature and an extensive root system. Even tiny fragments of root are capable of generating new plants, so hand-weeding it is pretty much out of the question unless you have nothing better to do with your time. The only environmentally responsible course of action is to resign yourself to keeping it out of flower beds and letting it have the run of your yard. The good news is that it can be easily cut with the dullest lawn mower blade.
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