For various gardens, creeping weeds are a familiar issue with these unwanted courtyard inhabitants returning year after year, sometimes with more density.
These types of weeds are the bane of many gardeners who spend a great deal of time and money to remove unwanted weeds, only to have them return with vigor.
Understanding what a creeping weed is, its patterns of spreading means you’ll be able to target creeping weeds for control or eradication.
In This Article: We will outline what creeping weeds are, along with examples of some of the more common offenders that will want to invade your garden.
What Are Creeping Weeds?
Creeping weeds are those perennial plants that tend to be small and loamy to the ground.
These weeds may be procumbent or climbing, but others, are simply low, these perpetually low plants won’t grow up a pole or trellis.
Just so we know, perennial creeping weeds live for more than two years.
Unlike simple perennials, these creeping weeds do not generally disperse seeds from simply dropping them, they disperse seeds but as well, their roots, their rhizomes (main perennial underground stem), and the above ground runners that can become a new root/stem (stolon) can all work toward radial dispersion.
Because of their energy storage roots and tuber distribution, creeping weeds have great efficiency in taking over area’s.
Creepies usually grow quickly and spread to take over again and again their area, spreading and infiltrating lawn and other grounds.
Eradication of these weeds usually is not possible under a one-off uprooting initiative, remnant of the primary weed roots will remain under the surface to grow again and again (some will find a way).
Their use of multiple means of reproduction also contributes to their ability to persist.
Creeping Weed Reproduction
Creeping perennials are difficult for a couple of reasons: they reproduce by more than one means.
Creeping weeds will attack your property in a two-pronged attack:
- Seed production: this is the sexual reproduction that is common to all plants where the pollen (male) fertilizes the stigma (female) produces fruit that has seeds that can reproduce a new plant. Simple weeds propagate such an effective means of dispersal that they can produce hundreds or even thousands of seeds at a time which can lead to the perpetuation of the species. Creeping weeds have a backup plan that is in some ways, even more effective.
- Vegetative (asexual) reproduction: Perennial creeping weeds reproduce by relying on their vegetative organs. Stems, roots or leaves can produce an entirely new plant at a new location by means of rhizomes, tubers, stolons, bulbs and corms. While these vegetative organs may not remain viable as long as seeds, they can be quite persistent and can overwinter without much elaboration.
Lookout for These Common Creeping Weeds!
Creeping Charlie
Also Known As: Glechoma Hederacea, Ground-Ivy, Field Balm, Gill-Over-the-Ground, Creeping Jenny, Tunhoof, Catsfoot, Run-away-Robin, Alehoof
Distribution: Native to Europe, invasive in North America
Description
Creeping Charlie is a fast-growing weed that can invade lawns in North America.
Creeping Charlie is difficult to control or eliminate because of its deep roots and aggressive vegetative growth and seed.
Ground ivy has opposite, fan-shaped leaves with rounded, toothed edges on square stems that produce roots at each node.
In the spring, it produces clustered funnel-shaped blue-violet flowers.
Creeping Charlie can quickly invade a lawn, but it does not grow taller than 30 cm.
Creeping Thistle
Also Known As: Cirsium Arvense, Canada Thistle, Field Thistle
Distribution: Native to Europe and the Caucasus, invasive in North America
Description
Creeping thistle is a herbaceous perennial that actually clonally propagates into a network of interweaving weeds.
Just like its flowering shoots, the seeds that these shoots form can disperse like dandelions.
So this double attack can make Canada thistle, sadly expand over huge regions, not just once, but every time!
For Example: Canada thistle can tolerate many different herbicides, given its rate of turnover.
Quackgrass
Also Known As: Elymus Repens, Couch Grass, Quick Grass, Quitch Grass, Quitch, Dog Grass, Quackgrass, Scutch Grass, Common Couch, Twitch
Distribution: Native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, invasive in North America
Description
This grass was introduced into dry regions along the west coast of the United States to help combat soil erosion.
Unfortunately, it has established itself as an invasive weed and its creeping growth habit makes it quite difficult to eradicate.
Quackgrass uses creeping rhizomes as the source of its aggressive spread.
Its flat hairy leaves provide the photosynthetic engine for its underground structure of vegetative organs.
Elymus repens has leaves that are up to 40 centimeter long and in June through August it produces a 30 centimeter flower spike consisting of multiple florets.
Bermudagrass
Also Known As: Cynodon Dactylon, Dhoob, Dūrvā Grass, Ethana Grass, Dog’s Tooth Grass, Bahama Grass, Indian Doab, Arugampul, Grama, or Wiregrass
Distribution: Native to Europe, Asia, Africa, invasive in the Americas
Description
Bermudagrass is an aggressive perennial creeping weed that can form extensive root systems greater than 2 meters deep, even under poor soil conditions.
Cynodon dactylon has become established in warm climates and is an invasive weed within the southern US states.
Above ground it’s a grass with an erect stem and grey-green blades.
As well as stolons and rhizomes, like other creeping weeds, bermudagrass can reproduce from seeds.
It has an ability to slow its growth or become dormant in cold weather or areas of shade!
Field Bindweed
Also Known As: Convolvulus Arvensis, Lesser Bindweed, Withy Wind, European Bindweed, Perennial Morning Glory, Creeping Jenny, Possession Vine
Distribution: Native to Europe, Asia, Africa, invasive in the Americas
Description
This creeping weed features a large trumpet shaped flower that can be cream or pink in color.
Each flower lasts just one day; however, it produces a nondescript brown fruit which will contain seeds that can be viable for decades prior to germinating.
Field bindweed has ability to spread so fast because of its long creeping underground stems (rhizomes) which are very difficult to dig out.
This weed often dies back in the winter and will come alive shortly thereafter with the growth of its rhizomes.
Field bindweed spreads fast and can swiftly invade cultivated land. In a matter of days or weeks, it can completely compromise a field of agricultural crops.
The agricultural impact of Field bindweed is in hundreds of millions of dollars.
Nutsedges
Also Known As: Cyperus, Nutgrass
Distribution: Invasive in the Americas
Description
These grass like weeds have stems that come to a V-shaped cross section with broad leaves in threes.
Cyperus produces green flowers to develop seeds that are dispersed by wind; nutsedges often persist when in wetland habitats or shallow water.
There are probably over 700 individual nutsedge species and the overall variations in height and size are generally tropical.
The Ancient Egyptians used other sedges to produce papyrus.
Like other creeping weeds, nutsedges are highly persistent and are capable of spreading over vast distances by rhizomes.
These vegetative organs are typically a foot below ground and may be dug out.
In Winter: The foliage above ground dies back with the rhizome producing new growth when the weather warms.
Controlling the Common Creeping Weeds
If you’re gonna be successful with targeting those rotten creeping weeds, you’re going to need to use multiple approaches.
Any control method applied to creeping weeds should match the multiple methods of reproduction and propagation used by those pesky weeds.
Here are your options.
Prevention
With creeping weeds, it is certainly much easier to prevent them than it is to take remedial action.
There are some easy way to make prevention a success:
- Use clean crop seeds, plant seeds, animal feed or hay. All are forms of potential sources of weed seeds that can be unwittingly distributed.
- Clean machinery or garden equipment that has been used in a weed infested area, and which is travelling between fields or gardens.
- Crop rotation is a great way to limit the potential for weeds to occur in a given area.
- Be careful with composting and manure storage, as viable seeds, roots and rhizomes can persist and regrow.
Mechanical Control
It’s easy to forget about cultivation as a method for weed management, but farmers will show that it’s effective.
By cultivating the soil around your plants and crops you are disturbing weeds and limiting their chances to settle in and grow their vegetative organs:
- Disking after plowing can be useful in weed management on large field operations .the disc blades chop up and kill vegetation remaining in the field before planting.
- Regular mowing and cutting can prevent weeds from developing leaves to feed their storage organs and to cease the growth of crops and plants we want.
- Hand pulling and hoeing is an easy method that is good for a backyard garden.
- Mulching is a practice to prevent weeds from getting light to sprout or germinate.
Herbicides
It’s slow-going when it comes to controlling perennial creeping weeds using herbicides.
It can take up to 3 years to really start making an impact with some of these species.
Also, herbicides are not going to do it alone, and you will also need to use some mechanical management before you see any impact on established weeds.
Herbicides will kill weeds, they just need to get into the roots and vegetative organs of the plant.
To do this the best time to put on herbicides is typically early autumn when these perennials are moving sugars and nutrients to their roots for winter storage.
The application of herbicides may also be effective when there are buds on the weeds, as it will move the product to the roots with carbohydrates during photosynthesis.
Biological control
Biological control would be a perfect answer for creeping weeds, but most of the biological controls available usually take long time to work.
The pests, parasites and pathogens used to control weeds are often less than specific meaning they may damage your crops or plants as well.
Rounding Up
Creeping weeds have certainly invented some wicked ways of Waging War in gardens, parks and fields.
Fighting off these relentless weeds is very demoralising but by mixing and matching approaches and treatments, you can absolutely win the war against creeping weeds in your soils.