If anyone has some good ideas on getting rid of this pest, let me know too. I have a 4 year old Boxer, grandchildren, etc. and I don't want to use chemicals. Someone on a local gardening show mentioned using a natural spray called IronX that is sold by Gardens Alive. The two people who are on the show are organic gardeners and don't use or suggest using ANY chemicals. I've not heard if people who've tried it had success or not. It might be worth a try since nothing else natural short of hand pulling or digging will get rid of the stuff. I'll be following this thread carefully!
Linda

i would use round up ... perhaps in a way you dont think .. so i will waste some time telling you ... give me a virtual high 5 for teaching.. even if you refuse after the lesson.. your choice ...

mix a gallon ... in a pail ...

get some chemical gloves.. i use kitchen gloves rated for such .. i figure if it stops ammonia and bleach .. it isnt going to be hurt by 2 or 3% RU ... read the box ... it will tell you ...

and large sized cotton gloves.. that fit over the latex gloves..

stick you protected hand in the bucket.. saturate the cotton glove.. make a fist and wring out excess ...and simply grab and coat the leaves of the plants you dont want..

dont go anal on hitting every piece of the plant.. if you cant get to 10 or 15% because they are in a tight space.. skip them ... you can deal with them by hand later ... if in fact the creeper doesnt die in its entirety anyway ...

and then watch them die ...

i will leave it to you.. to get the right rubber gloves ...

if you are ruling out RUp simply due to the horrors of spray.. then think outside the box ...

good luck with an organic solution.. i never had much luck with GAlive solutions ...

i mean really .. with creeping charlie.. your next step after RU fails.. is to napalm the yard.. and start over.. lol ...

ken

ps: other peeps use foam brushes .. but i would still use the rubber gloves ...

I don't have a creeping charlie problem (thank goodness) but I wonder if vinegar would work? I'm currently trying it on poison ivy. My neighbor had really good luck with it on his poison ivy (it hasn't returned in 4 years and counting).

There may be an actual recipe or solution, but I just use a quart spray bottle, fill it about a third with vinegar (I figure the more vinegar the better, no?), throw in about a teaspoon of salt, a squirt of dish liquid, and fill up with water. I had used a pump sprayer last year but the darn things keep clogging/breaking on me, so I resorted to the bottle sprayer.

It's slow going, and it may take me all summer (and then the battle may continue next year) but I won't use Round-up so I deal with this method. I've sprayed about three times so far since May and I can see the PI slowly dying back.

Maybe if you try this solution with a brush, or a carefully aimed squeeze of the bottle trigger, you might have some luck. (I have pretty good luck spraying this on "stream" mode into the PI in the garden beds. I also figure (or maybe the word is "hope") that since it's not killing the PI straight out on the first try, if I happen to get some on the garden plants it won't kill them straight out either!)

Best of luck to you!
Dee

These days there is a lot of hype about "organic" solutions -- however, all "organic" or "natural" substances are also chemicals. Salt is a chemical. So is water. Many naturally occurring chemicals are actually more toxic than artificially produced ones, so just because I tell you that a weed killer is "organic," doesn't mean it is non-toxic or safe by default.

That said, Roundup is powerful stuff so I understand the concern with kids and dogs, but Ken's method is a spot treatment so you don't end up having to saturate a huge area with gallons of weed killer. Just keep the kids and dogs away while the Roundup does its work. I think any less powerful method is just wasting time.

Thank you all for your advice, has anyone used Borax? I did some on-line research and a weak Borax solution was recommeneded in lawns. And I will try this in the lawn, but am hesitant to use it in amongst my perennials.

I HATE using round-up! I live in farm country and am surrounded by farmers who use it in the fields all the time. I do realize that sometimes it's needed.....but I still HATE it!

I wish I just had a small patch to deal with, but it is all through the grass in a large back yard. It came from a next door neighbor who does not take care of her property.

One year, we fenced off an area and used a weed killer spray just in that area. According to what I've read about CC, it's best treated in early spring or in the fall. And we treated twice, as the directions stated, two weeks apart. We did not take the fence down for several weeks, when we had had lots of rain and even had cut the grass in that area several times. We did get rid the CC in that area, but it grew back, coming from outside the treated area. This stuff is tenacious.

If we decide to give the IronX a try, I'll let you know the results.

Linda

which do you hate more.. the problem.. or the solution .. lol ...

good luck.. let us know how you end up winning...

ken

Creeping Charlie is one of those weeds you have to be ever viligant about. My lawn is infested with it. As soon as I see it start to encroach a bed, I rip it all out. If there is a larger area, I'll shield my plants and use roundup on the stuff. I found it's easiest to kill when it's flowering.

I'm actually thinking of killing my entire lawn (which is nothing but weeds at this point) next year and starting from scratch it's gotten so bad.

Info on using borax for Creeping Charlie. You have to be careful with this one.

Here is a link that might be useful: borax for creeping charlie

Ortho Weed B Gone does kill CC, but you can't use it in gardens. My Dad had a horrible infestation in one area of his lawn and he did 2 applications. The next spring it was totally gone. I don't recommend this, but he said he mixed it double strength. If it's in your garden, follow Ken's advice or just keep ripping. Persistence will win out, but you HAVE to be persistent.

My CC problem came from a vacant lot next to my property. Whenever I see that stuff coming through my fence, I rip. It's a weekly chore for me.

Kevin

Yeah Ken it's a question which is worse the problem or the solution.

This year the thugs seem to be winning, not only am I fighting CC in the front, that bed also is full of volunteer plum trees. I am thinking that later this summer I going to HAVE to dig out my perennials, redig and roundup this whole bed.....a LOT of work but....

Then in the back of the house there are the Harebells...a lovely little wildflower until it over takes your flower beds!

In the shrub hedge that separates the yard from the gravel road and in the woodland behind the house and around one side of the yard I am fighting European Buckthorn. We have 5 acres here, 1 acre is used up in a levee and pond, about 1 1/2 acres is house, lawn and gardens, the rest is woodland.....in other words lots of weeds, not only buckthorn, but greather burdock, thistle and quack grass.

Some days It feels like an impossible task! If I could dedicate my life to it, I would love it, but alas I have to work.

Round Up (Glyphosate) is far less toxic than many chemicals put on yards.

Round Up does not poison the soil nor have any residual effect.

The 2,4-D used in Weed n'Feed does....yet people poison their lawns with it and let kids and pets play on it.