A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Ground cover?

I took a walk out in the field that's next to our property, & saw several bunches of this growing out there. I'd never seen it in the field before, but I think I like it & would like to bring some of it up to my yard.

Does anybody know what it is?
It's probably another "weed", but I'm begining to like some weeds! If this is a Steppable, I can finally get my paths planted around the house! (It looks & feels like it might be.)

Here's a closer look.

It tastes like something awfully familiar, too. (I'm going to be in big trouble some day, for tasting things to help guess what they are... I don't think people are supposed to do that!)

Is it oregano?

It is a weed. Sorry. Creeping Charlie or ground ivy.

Hi Patty
I think it is Lamium Purpurea or purple dead nettle.

Henbit/Purple Dead Nettle....

Can be very invasive, but it's not to bad..
*I leave mine..* lesser of two evils,
if you know what I mean..

Patty do a Google search at the top, make
sure the buttons' clicked on TGH and I know
you'll find another post we, were just talking about it in another post, with Thornius...

it's creeping charlie. has a nice purple flower.

it's VERY invasive.

it's easy to pull up though as the root system is very shallow. it's all through my yard. i've let it grow in areas that i wanted to put beds in...it took over and got rid of the grass and then it was nothing to get rid of it.

it's VERY tough to get rid of - it can root from one little piece of stem left behind.

Creeping Charlie does look similar, but it doesn't get the purplish leaves. This plant is purple deadnettle.
Comparison of purple deadnettle and henbit.

The other one that joclyn is a weed too,
and they are in the same MINT FAMILY,
but it doesn't get a purple top at all...
I have both in my yard..

Her\'es a clearer picture of the Ground Ivy or Creeping Charlie

You guys are right that it is lamium.

This is where Weezies quote comes in handy.

They call both Lamium Purpurea and Glechoma hederacea, creeping charlie here.

Great job for clearing this one up guys.

I vote for Creeping Charlie, a weed. It is very invasive so don't let it get a good start, or you'll be sorry.

I dunno' . . . I never saw any creeping charlie that was purple.

Maybe I just don't live right.

;-)

well, i seem to have both in my yard.

does the purple dead nettle travel as quickly as the creeping charlie??

as much as i love purple, i really don't want either of these in my lawn. what's best to use to get rid of them??

While dead nettle is invasive, it is not considered a weed.

Same plant, 15 days later.
Purple Dead Nettle it is. (I took it to the County Extension office.) I was told that, (1) as Kyloy mentioned, it is invasive but not actually a "weed", in that it's easily controlled, (2) it's a cool weather plant, & (3) it will recede later in the spring when the weather warms up, & will look more like a plant that's not very happy.... only to summer & winter over, & be back next year.

I really like the looks of it, & was hoping that it'd last all summer, but I guess not. I'd like to have something that stays all growing season & has a bit of color (especially purple) & a little texture, like this plant is doing right now... guess I'll keep looking! (Might go with Lavender plants.)

By the way, I mentioned up at the top that it tastes like something familiar, & it finally came to me... Red Beets! Thanks! (I also have Creeping Charlie, but didn't know what it was. Now I don't have to take a picture & ask about it!)

Not many perennials have a bloom all summer long.. mostly that's why people substitute with annuals... even weeds don't bloom all summer..

If you're looking for color of some sort..
That stays for a long time..
Go with something like a Caladium or Polka Dot plant..the leaves are just soooooo pretty on the Caladiums, and come in soooooo many different varieties...

Even Bright Lights Swiss Chard *and it's edible* they were fun, I grew them, and the stalk is orange, yellow, red, lime green, and the leaves are a purple type...I grew them in a small pot, and they really needed to be thined.. but still I had fun with them..

Or if you want to stay in that same family as the dead nettle... go with one called Lamium maculatum 'White Nancy', it has white and green leaves, delicate pink flowers and spreads in the same manor...or Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver' same thing only I think those flowers are a purple like..

Or Lamium galeobdolon (Lamiastrum galeobdolon)--'Yellow Archangel', that has yellow flowers...

Your knife.

?

She means to cut the stuff out....
*like chop it down, especially to get rid of
the flowers that would eventually make seeds to
make more plants*

pulling up, cutting, whatever. the creeping charlie just comes right back...

i've even put up barriers between the neighbors yard and my flowerbed as well as between the flowerbed and my grass. the stuff grew UNDER the barriers as well as over top!

cutting it only holds it back for a week or two. same with pulling it up - even if you get the whole thing (which can sometimes be 3 feet long) it doesn't seem to matter. it comes right back.

it works REALLY well if you have a grassy area you want to get rid of tho...just let the charlie go and it'll over take the grass. then it's easy enough to pull up - but it does tend to come right back tho...seems that the tiniest bit of leaf/stem/root is all that is needed for a new plant to start growing.

You know the best way I've found to make
some of the more tenacious weeds disappear is
a series of ways..
I throw on top of it, like heavy cardboard..
Can't get any sunshine thru it, when it's wet,
it sucks right down to the ground and keeps stuff very moist.. which the inturn kills the grass from contact with the soil/dirt and moisture and that attracks worms, which work up the soil from the underneath up..... and throw on a bit of compost, to feed the worms and it'll make the dirt so soft and plyable, that they'll come right out...or at the very least, get most of the roots...

I have both of those in my front and back yard, my question is what is the difference between the purple dead nettle and catnip? they look alike and ya'all said they were in the mint family but I'm just curoius to how closely they are "related" so to speak

I know this plant as heal-all. Check the stems. Square stems = mint family.

Nope, Heal~all is Prunella valgaris L.
it's close, but a different plant...
*different leaf structure, and prunella doesn't get that purple on the top,
that I remember..*