Ground Ivy

Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) is a low, creeping perennial of the mint family, native to Europe and Asia and naturalized across North America. It is the very same species commonly called creeping Charlie, spreading by square, rooting stems to form thick mats in moist, shaded ground.

Its kidney-shaped, scallop-edged leaves release a minty, musky scent when crushed, a hallmark of its mint-family heritage. Small blue-violet, two-lipped flowers appear in spring.

Introduced historically as a groundcover, it has become a tenacious lawn and garden weed wherever conditions are damp and shaded.

A creeping, mat-forming perennial just a few inches high.

• Stems: square (mint family), trailing and rooting at the nodes as they spread
• Leaves: opposite, round to kidney-shaped with scalloped margins, bright green, strongly aromatic when bruised
• Flowers: small, two-lipped, blue to violet, clustered in the leaf axils in spring
• Scent: minty and musky when crushed or mowed
• Habit: low, fast-spreading carpet, thickest in shade and moist soil

Usually managed as a weed; guidance focuses on control.

• Light: Favors part shade to full shade but persists in sun where moist
• Water: Prefers consistently moist soil; spreads fastest in damp ground
• Soil: Adaptable, thriving in rich, moist sites
• Control (cultural): Increase turf density and light, hand-rake and pull all rooted stems; do not rely on mowing, which spreads fragments
• Control (chemical): Triclopyr-containing broadleaf herbicides work best, applied in autumn as the plant translocates to its roots
• As a plant: If grown intentionally as groundcover, contain it, as it spreads aggressively

Native to Europe and southwestern Asia, ground ivy was brought to North America by European settlers as a groundcover and has naturalized broadly across temperate regions.

It favors moist, shaded and partly shaded ground: lawns beneath trees, woodland edges, damp borders, hedgerows and disturbed soils, where it readily outcompetes thinning grass.