I may have beaten Creeping Charlie!!

[MaryMary]

Eight years ago, I rented a house and acquired a yard to play in. That was when I discovered Creeping Charlie. The first five years, I removed it from the flower bed and veg garden, but in utter defeat, I gave it the rest of the yard.

After five years, just seeing it while walking up to the house made me angry. It was depressing, coming home and seeing the vile growth encroaching on my sidewalk!! So I started pulling it from the sides of the walk, as well. About every three months while the weather is nice, I get my bucket, sit on the sidewalk, and pull. And pull, and pull, and... you get it. (Since it grows as a vine, I try to tease it out of the grass as far as I can reach.)

This spring, I noticed something. The violets have joined the fight . . . and I think we are winning!!


This is the edge of my sidewalk. I haven't weeded it yet, and it is time to weed it again. I see it at the top of the first picture, but I don't think violets will establish between the blocks of sidewalk, and I don't want them to. (After all, the walk should be plant-free.) I tried to take a picture, take a step, take a picture, take a step - so that you know it is a continuous line, and I am not just blowing smoke up your wazoo.

Forgive me any overlap.

This is where my walk meets the public sidewalk, when there were flowers. That was what made me notice I had more violets than Charlie.

I wanted to give it another year of trial before posting, but I am posting this at the encouragement of @Beverly. And she's right.

It took me three years to get this far, you might be better off knowing now than waiting another year.

This is quite a discovery MM [sic] and should make some people very happy. I think it is better you mention it now so other people can try it to see if they get similar results, then you can be more confident in spreading the word. It would deserve a thread of its own i think. Me, i know nothing of Creeping Charlie except from other people who all seem to agree that it is the most miserable plant on the planet. If some sweet and pretty violets can stop creeping charlie from creeping, i'm sure this will be big news. The plant world is so full of surprises.

 

[Beth_B]

I'm definitely going to encourage all my little wild violets! Hmm, I'm sure I can buy seeds or plants at the garden center.

This could revolutionise the battle against creeping charlie!

 

[Beverly]

Hi Beth i noticed that you had written earlier about your clump of violets in one space, but you have creeping charlie in many locations (it sounds like) so are you going to transplant violets in all your spaces to see if they will take hold? Is that the plan? I will really be interested in seeing the results

 

[Beth_B]

Hi Beth i noticed that you had written earlier about your clump of violets in one space, but you have creeping charlie in many locations (it sounds like) so are you going to transplant violets in all your spaces to see if they will take hold? Is that the plan? I will really be interested in seeing the results

Yes, basically! I have both creeping charlie and violets everywhere, but much more cc than violets. So I'm thinking if @MaryMary is correct, I can pull the cc and encourage the violets, at least in my perennial beds. The violets are pretty and don't grow really tall, so they are fine, I think, as a "filler" in between other plants.

Heavy mulch really slows it down, but it still manages to take hold and then go nuts.

 

[alp]

A blue viola can be trouble though. I had quite a bit of a blue viola which has a very successful networking ability and the root system spreads everywhere and deep. Why not plant something that you really like? Or weed an area, put a weed suppressing membrane on top and slit a cross to plant your favorite plant and then mulch around the area!

 

[MaryMary]

I'm definitely going to encourage all my little wild violets! Hmm, I'm sure I can buy seeds or plants at the garden center.

If you have many clumps of violets in the yard, they apparently produce seeds throughout the summer!

During the summer, cleistogamous flowers without petals produce seeds, which are flung outward by mechanical ejection from the three-parted seed capsules.
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/savanna/plants/cm_violet.htm

Other Uses

Most violets are edible and have certain medicinal properties which have increased their practical value. Violets contain a certain amount of salicylic acid, which is a chief ingredient in aspirin. Certain forms of violets therefore were used as pain relievers, among many other uses up to and including cancer treatment. The leaves of violets are rich in vitamins A and C. They have been used in the past and today in salads, as soup thickeners, tea, and, when prepared properly, as candy.
http://wp.stolaf.edu/naturallands/woodlands/ephemerals/commonviolet/

A blue viola can be trouble though. I had quite a bit of a blue viola which has a very successful networking ability and the root system spreads everywhere and deep. Why not plant something that you really like?

Oh, alp, you don't know Charlie. It's terrible stuff.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Nice post, and considering I'm edging much of my garden with Common Blue Violet and Confederate Violet, it gives me hope as well, but I still wont believe it until I see it with my own eyes.

Considering that Common Blue and Confederate Violets are native, I would certainly recommend adding them to yards. Definitely better than just plain lawn (which to me is equally as ugly as Creeping Charlie).

 

[alp]

I wish I lived in America where houses are so big and the yards even bigger. I don't even have room for my hellebores!

True, viola can be eaten raw.. Another reason to keep them. Good for salad.