You can pull creeping Charlie if the patch is small. For spots about the size of a doormat or less, pulling works great. But for anything bigger, you will waste your time. The answer depends on how much ground this weed covers in your yard right now.
I learned this the hard way last spring. I spent an hour hand pulling creeping charlie from a patch about 6 feet wide in my backyard. Filled an entire yard waste bag. Felt proud of myself. Three weeks later the whole thing grew back like I never touched it. Every tiny piece of stem I left behind sent out new roots and shoots.
My neighbor had better luck with a much smaller spot near her porch. She got down on her knees after a rain storm and traced every runner to its tip. That patch never came back. The key was that her patch was only about 2 feet across, small enough to get every piece out.
Here is why pulling fails on bigger patches. Creeping Charlie roots at every single node along its stems. These stems crawl across your ground and send down roots wherever they touch soil. When you yank the leaves, you snap stems at random points below the surface. Those broken pieces don't die. They just sprout new growth from the closest rooted node you missed. One broken runner can produce three or four new plants within a couple of weeks.
UW Extension has a smart tip if you want to remove creeping charlie by hand. Use a dethatching rake over the area first. This lifts the tangled stem network up to the surface. You can then see and grab the full length of each runner. They suggest keeping hand removal to patches under 10 square feet (0.9 square meters). Bigger patches need a different plan.
Timing makes a huge difference too. Always pull after a good rain. Wet soil lets go of roots more easily and you get longer pieces out in one pull. Dry soil grips tight and snaps the stems off short. You end up leaving all the parts that will grow back.
For tiny patches under 3 feet across, pull after rain and trace every runner to its end. Start from the tips and work back toward the center. Check the spot every week for two months to grab regrowth while it is still small and weak. This method takes patience but it works on small areas.
For larger areas, pair your pulling with a backup plan. Lay cardboard and 4 inches of mulch over the cleared spot to smother what you missed. Or apply a triclopyr herbicide in early fall when the plant is storing energy in its roots. Pulling alone on a big patch just burns your time without fixing the problem.
The bottom line is simple. Small patch means you can pull it yourself and win. Big patch means you need help from herbicides or smothering. Match your method to the size of your weed problem and you will save yourself a lot of wasted weekends in your yard.
Read the full article: Creeping Charlie: Full Guide
