Using Borax to Get Rid of Creeping Charlie?

Elaine
Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 172 Posts

May 9, 20110 found this helpful

Using Borax is very chancy. If you use too much you could ruin your whole yard and it will be a very long time before you get any grass to grow. This is the only thing that works and even then you have to keep checking and reapply. I took this excerpt from "The Gardenweb" and the guy is right in what he says. I have so much yard, I couldn't keep it up myself because it was covered with it. So I had a service come in and now maybe I can get it under control. It is a nasty weed.

I have been reading your frustrations. I want to reiterrate my post from two years ago, and remind you how important timing is for attacking this weed. A couple of applications in late September/early October is the key to beginning to control this monster. Plus, if you use Weed B Gon max over whole yard at this time, you will have an amazingly clean yard the next spring.

Creeping Charlie or ground ivy is a particularly problematic weed because of the fact that it is resistant to a number of herbicides, but there are some very effective products available. (One of the things I am assuming here is that you want to control the creeping Charlie in your turf areas.) When searching for a herbicide look for products containing triclopyr. This includes Weed B Gon Purple, Weed B Gon Chickweed, and Weed B Gone Max. If you have other broadleaf weeds such as dandelion, Weed B Gon Max would be a great choice because it contains 4 active ingredients 2,4-D, which is very effective on dandelion, MCPP, dicamba, and triclopyr. The best time to apply your perennial weed control products for species such as creeping Charlie is in fall (October 1-15). At this time weeds will be going dormant and storing nutrients, and if you spray at this time the weed will actually store the herbicide, giving you the best control response. The second best time is in the spring right at and after creeping Charlie flowers.

I had the service come in the fall and I see very little of it this spring.