Creeping Charlie grows best in soils that are overly moist, compacted, and low in soil fertility. Look into the soil conditions and make them more conducive to growing grass and that will usually keep the numbers of CC plants down.

Here is a link that might be useful: About Creeping Charlie

The only organic solution I've seen is to pull up the entire lawn, remove all the creeping charlie and violet roots, and start over.

On another forum they talked about fairly easy success using brush-b-gone but that's certainly not an acceptable solution if you are opposed to using chemical herbicides.

Why on earth would someone suggest using a product that is absolutely not an organic product on an organic lawn care forum. The simply boggles the mind.

I appreciate that people realize that creeping charlie is so intractable that herbicides might be the only solution, if only out of frustration. But I just can't bring myself to go chemical. Actually, I was encouraged by the link: one huge thing I can do is trim my trees to allow more sun to penetrate (it never dawned on me that cc was shade-loving, duh). I'll also start looking at charlie in terms of management rather than eradication.

Why on earth would someone suggest using a product that is absolutely not an organic product on an organic lawn care forum. The simply boggles the mind.

I know! I've made the very same observation on occasion. Crazy, huh!! Here's the rationale. I have not turned to the Dark Side, and I realize that people posting here and reading here are looking for organic solutions to their problems. Otherwise they would have gone to the chemical type forums for answers. What I am coming to realize is that sometimes there are outside issues bearing on the situation that might be pertinent to the overall, long term success of an organic program. We all know there are people who are vegetarians who also eat eggs, chicken, fish, cheese, and other foods that seem to contradict the idea of eating only vegetables. Presumably they speak openly about their approach with other vegetarians. Similarly there are home owners who follow a strict organic program...except in the fall they use urea (twice). Or in the spring they use Weed-B-Gone because their turf coming out of winter was thin enough to allow weeds in. But the rest of the time they use no chemicals at all. There are other factors that are more social and can bear on lawn maintenance. "Why is everyone else's lawn green and ours is yellow (or brown)?" "Why can't you get rid of our weeds?" "I'm going to get my hair done so by the time I get back I want those weeds gone and the garage cleaned out. By the way my engine light is flashing, the brakes are squealing, I saw tomato worms a couple days ago, you have to pack for your trip on Monday, Joey needs to be at his game by 3:30 today, and it's your turn to take snacks." Sometimes you are at 4th and 1, but you still have to punt to win the game.

I did suggest a solution that did not involve chemicals. I think after all these years it is universally agreed that there is no product solution in the organic catalog that will solve the creeping Charlie problem. Pulling it out is the only reported way I've seen that has any measure of success. Beyond that, spraying with chemicals usually does not work either. The one chemical that has been reported to work is brush-b-gone. Weed-b-gone does not work and only adds insult to injury. So far I have been able to maintain a 100% pure organic garden, but if I had something like creeping Charlie, I might be tempted to violate my organic code of honor the one time. In fact if I ever move to a place with creeping Charlie already in place, I will definitely eradicate it one way or another. Am I saying I would use uranium if that was the only thing that worked? Not at all. Fortunately there is nothing in the normal chemical catalog that cannot be overcome with patience and an organic approach after the fact. And I'm not saying to give up on the organic approach. I'm just saying that under rare circumstances, organics does not offer an answer (that I am aware of). I am always willing to learn,...

I have to confess, when we moved in (first house) I was all set to use every chemical necessary for lawn/garden needs. Heck, that's how my dad did it. I'd never really stopped to consider any long-term ramifications. And even though I got my consciousness raised--kid running around the yard--I still struggle with the impulse to try a little chem warfare now and then. Which I think is your point: devotion to a program sometimes encounters contingencies. Guess I'm just gonna get down on the ground and start pulling, like you said. If that doesn't work, I hope I don't get an itchy trigger finger.

From what I read the roots are shallow but you have to get them all. When it is all over you will have pulled up every square foot of lawn to get all the roots.

Whether the roots of Creepng Charlie are shallow or not depends on the age of the plant. I have some, very small plants mind, with very shallow roots systems while others that are older can have a 2 foot long root system. Some do root in the flower beds and are often difficult to know early on since they look very similar to Mallow, at first. Mostly, however, they prefer to grow in the compacted soils with low fertility that I also have and correcting the soil I have found is the best means of control since apparently the birds drop seeds from these plants all over the place.

kimmsr, are you saying that by fixing the soil you can deter, control, or eliminate creeping Charlie? What steps did you take to do that and which ones do you think were the most effective?

And if you have solved creeping Charlie with a non chemical approach, my hat is definitely off to you. I might even go so far as to formally retract my comments above that we have already acknowledged as being unseemly, if not inappropriate, for this forum.

If you're willing to also torch the nearby grass and re-plant it, a weed burner is a non-chemical means of taking out charlie.

You start with a good, reliable soil test to find out what your soils pH is and what, if anything, you need to do to correct that, and you also get that base nutrient load that can help you know if anything is out of balance. The you also dig in with the simple soil tests that I have been posting for years, that some people maintain do no good,

1. Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.
but will help you understand more about your soil and can be a guide in restoring that soil to good health.

What I do see is that where I have balanced the soil so it is closer to the good, healthy soil I want I have fewer Creeping Charlie seedlings grow, although if I allow them to grow those do grow stronger and healthier than those that grow in the less desireable soil. I also seem to have more near the bird feeders than anywhere else, but still no where near what I had 35 some years ago.

I've had some success with the following method controlling CC in my lawn. However I've had to repeat the process a few times during the growing season. Second, it doesn't completely eradicate Charlie but just reduces it substantially (until it grows back). Still, if CC is taking over your lawn this method makes for a good compromise organic solution as it will provide a few months before CC seems to be "taking over" again. If you also take care to optimize soil conditions for grass that too will discourage Charlie, so get a soil test and amend the soil as needed. I use Milorganite as a good natural lawn fertilizer.

First, I mow a bit shorter than I would otherwise. When you mow watch and see if you are chopping Charlie up. Adjust height as needed. *What you don't want to do is mow the grass while leaving Charlie mostly untouched, giving Charlie the advantage! Over time CC gets very vigorous given this advantage.* However, don't mow short if sustained dry weather is stressing the grass. If it's been hot and dry, better to wait for rain to soak the ground and mow as soon as it's dry enough to mow. Try not to mow more than 1/3 the height of the grass blade, so don't mow tall grass short. If Charlie is too low-creeping to be mowed effectively try this next step:

Fluff Charlie up with a rake. Use a lifting motion. You'll damage some grass plants, but since Charlie has runners you'll do far more damage raking up CC than to the grass. As CC starts accumulating on your rake, pile it up to dry out and die. If it has seeds, bury it in a hot compost pile to kill the seeds. You can also just bag up it to deal with composting later after it's shrunken from drying.

Once you've raked the whole CC infested area you'll have gone a long way to dealing a blow to CC. The raking also pre-scratches the soil so that you can back and reseed the bare spots you just created with grass seed, light mulch, and organic fertilizer/amendment as needed. Straw is a good final cover to hold in moisture and it shows you where you've reseeded so you can assess results.

It's work, but this method is temporarily effective enough to be quite satisfying and put an end to that hopeless feeling Charlie creates! Getting soil ph and fertility optimized for grass is your best long term plan to control Charlie, but raking helps a lot too.

Lots of great information in this thread. I too will not use chemicals on my lawn and creeping charlie is taking over, especially this year! I believe cc must like a lot of water because it was a wet winter and a wet spring and summer so far here in Michigan. Not much we can do about that. I just finished trimming my bushes and trees to get more light on the grass as I noticed that the few spots that don't have any Charlie are full sun. The other thing I'm doing is taking tarps and killing off every thing, patch by patch and starting over. It is taking a long time, but I believe if by taking the solutions provided in the post above mine, and spending some time on my soil and lawn condition, I may be able to keep it at bay. I'll let you know how it goes after I re-seed my first patches!

I'm with Arkansas_Girl on this one. I just pulled a little Creeping Charlie (we call it Cleveland Creeper as a joke). It was sitting happily in my full sun southern bed, which also doesn't get watered a great deal as it's shrubs.

The soil is as tuned as any other in the garden, with a very high (10%+) organic matter fraction. It's not compressed.

I get it every year and have to get it out of there when tiny or it'll run rampant. At that point, chemical control is the only thing that would work (but see below) and I'll avoid that if at all possible.

Creeping Charlie is an opportunist in the garden, and I've see it in all soil and sun conditions where there's free soil.

One organic solution might be horticultural vinegar. Applied on the plant in dry weather, on dry soil, in full sun, it'll take it out and kill the roots. However, wear eye protection as the stuff can temporarily blind you until your corneas heal.

Off the shelf grocery store vinegar...it might be worth a try, and won't require the eye gear (although it's still a good idea as vinegar is rather acidic). Apply on a hot day, in late morning, when full sun is expected.

Apparently many people do not understand that Creeping Charlie, "Glechoma hederacea", grows from seed that may have gotten where it is from previous plants or was dropped in by birds. Creeping Charlie, "Glechoma hederacea", has also adapted to a wide variety of growing conditions and will grow in full sun as well as full shade, but it can still be kept under control by adjusting soil conditions to those it still does not like.
In lawns a good healthy turf, thick, will limit the seeds ability to germinate. In flower, or vegetable gardens a good thick mulch can help keep this unwanted plant under control.
Learn about, and understand, the plant you want to control rather then simply use knee jerk reactions.

I too get starts of creeping charlie but pull it up by the root as soon as I see it whether it be when pulling weeds before mowing or during mowing. I also see it coming up in full sun, shade, thick grass, thin grass, etc. Has anyone tried the scalding water method to kill it?

Boiling, or scalding, water will kill this plant as well as any other plant that very hot water makes contact with. Given that hauling boiling water around presents the very good opportunity for severe burns, and the damage it will do to the lawn, I'm not all that sure it is a good option for control of any unwanted plant.
Mechanical removal is quicker, safer, and surer.

I have always practiced organic lawn care. I mow high with a mulching mower, apply corn gluten in the spring and use natural fertilizers the rest of the year. I have never used chemical herbicides, and have learned to live with a certain amount of weeds. The result, however, is a large yard that is slowly being taken over by Creeping Charlie. From what I've read in this forum, there is no organic solution for this problem, so every year at this time I am tempted to try a chemical herbicide to bring my Creeping Charlie under control. I've read that Ground Ivy can be effectively controlled by Ortho Clover, Chickweed, and Oxalis Killer. The active ingredient in this product is Triclopyr, which seems relatively safe based on the research I've been able to do online. It doesn't seem to have been linked to any cancers, it doesn't seem to contaminate groundwater, and it doesn't seem to be toxic to birds or bees. So can any of you convince me not to use this product now and then? I don't know what else to do.

Using that product, a synthetic, would mean you are no longer an organic grower. Compromise is not a good way to get the results desired, always. Lowering standards is not the way to go.