Have you ever come across a green ivy-esque weed with yellow flowers in your garden? It may be Creeping Jenny. Creeping Jenny, is a low-growing weed that can spread quickly throughout your lawn. It has been found to choke out other plants as well as lower the overall biodiversity in an area.
If you have creeping jenny in your yard it will need to be removed before it gets out of control. This article will show you how to identify creeping jenny and how to get rid of it from your lawn or garden! You will have your lawn back to its best self in no time.
What Is Creeping Jenny?
Creeping Jenny (scientific name Lysimachia nummularia) is a flowering plant in the primrose family. It is also known as Moneywort, Herb Twopence, and Twopenny Grass.
The name Nummularia comes from the Latin term nummus, which means “coin” and refers to the leaves’ coin-like shape. As a result, the common names listed above also allude to coins and money.
Creeping Jenny is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant, as well as for groundcover where its range of growth can be controlled. It is used in bog gardens and on the banks of small lakes and ponds.
Originally native to Europe, Creeping Jenny was introduced through explorers and colonizers to North America, where it is considered an invasive non-native weed.
Where and How Does Creeping Jenny Grow?
Creeping Jenny spreads quickly and grows in many different types of soil. It is a very invasive plant that can take over large areas of your landscape. It finds low wet ground, and especially ground near ponds to be favorable conditions, and in these conditions it thrives and tends to spread very aggressively.
Although it is mostly found in these moist soil conditions, in cultivation it can also survive in drier soil. It is a hardy plant in general, and can survive weather with temperatures as low as -15° Celsius, or 5° Fahrenheit.
How To Identify Creeping Jenny?
Creeping Jenny is a weed that can be identified by its bright green, rounded leaves and yellow flowers. The leaves of this plant are small and heart shaped, and they can also look like small coins.
The cup-shaped yellow flowers grow on top of the stems. The plant does not grow more than 2 inches off of the ground, and it spreads prostrate over the ground rather than upward.
Creeping Jenny is sometimes confused with Glechoma hederacea, or Creeping Charlie, which is another prostrate garden weed. If you think you might have Creeping Charlie in your lawn, read our post about how to get rid of it.
How to Kill Creeping Jenny In Your Yard?
Like other creeping weeds, Creeping Jenny is a difficult weed to remove, and may require multiple methods of control. Start by trying one method for a month or two before moving on to the next. Repeat this process until you remove all of the Creeping Jenny from your lawn or garden.
Chemical Means
An herbicide that uses glyphosate or triclopyr as an active ingredient will be effective at handling Creeping Jenny and eradicating it from your yard. Try a weed killer like RoundUp Poison Ivy Plus Weed Killer, which uses both ingredients.
Other herbicides, such as Southern Ag Crossbow herbicide or Compare-N-Save Concentrate, are also highly effective.
You’ll need to make sure that the weeds are sprayed when they’re in their seedling stage for best results.
Organic Means
Creeping Jenny is one of the more difficult weeds to remove by hand. Any little piece of it that is left will grow back. To ensure that this doesn’t happen, make sure to be very careful and remove the entire root structure when pulling it up.
Use a hoe or a small pitchfork to expose all of the roots before digging, and wear gloves when working in the garden.
You will most likely have to do this digging up process multiple times a year (a few weeks in between each one) for a few years until the problem is fixed for good.
How to Prevent Creeping Jenny From Growing Back?
One way to discourage Creeping Jenny from taking over is to maintain the health and biodiversity of your garden or yard. This allows for stronger plants that can better compete with weeds like Creeping Jenny.
This is where things like crop rotation, companion planting, and cover crops come in. These gardening methods help you maintain a healthy garden by diversifying the community of life forms present at any one time. Mowing routinely and over-seeding your lawn with grass also keeps weeds from popping up.
Additionally, because Creeping Jenny prefers damp and compacted soil, keeping your garden aerated or tilled on a semi-regular basis will help it remain moist and healthy but not too wet, keeping the weeds at bay.
Conclusion
Creeping Jenny is a creeping, mat-forming perennial weed that can be annoying to get rid of, but with patience and persistence you can do it. Luckily, there are some steps you can take before it becomes too big of an issue in your yard.
In this article are some tips on how you can identify this plant, as well as what chemical or organic means you should use for getting rid of Creeping Jenny in your yard. For best results, follow up with prevention methods once you’ve gotten rid of all the weeds to ensure your garden stays exactly the way you want it!