My Garden Arch Enemy #1

You might call it Glecoma hederacea, Nepeta hederacea, alehoff, cat ivy, cat's-foot, creeping Charlie, creeping jenny, crow victuals, field balm, gill, gill-go-by-the-hedge,  gillale, ground joy, hayhofe, haymaids, hedgemaids, hove, lizzy-run-up-the-hedge, robin-run-in-the-hedge, run-away-robin, tun hoof, tunhofe, turnhoof,  or even wild snakeroot.

Me, I call it gill-over-the-ground. And I hate it. Here it is, pretending to be a nice edging for my flower bed. So I left it there--and the next year it was IN the flowerbed, and had almost completely taken it over. Sigh. How dumb can I be.

I can't deny the plant has a certain charm. The vines are pretty, the leaves a nice, serrated-edge rounded shape, and it even has flowers. Its deep green color can make an attractive groundcover. And that is just the problem: the ground it wants to cover is in my gardens.

Believe it or not, this invasive plant is not native to the United States. Our ancestors, bless their souls, brought it here with them from Europe. Why, you might ask?

Well, in Europe apparently the plant is not as invasive as it is here. Ground ivy, as most people in my area call it, is a member of the mint family so if you've ever grown mint you know how it can spread via an underground system of vining roots. Centuries ago in Europe a tea was made from this plant that was a staple of most people's tables. 

Ground ivy was also thought to have all kinds of good medicinal/health properties, especially for ailments of the lungs, stomach, bowels and kidneys. A poultice made from the plant is still believed by some to be good for a black eye. So next time you have a bit too much beer and get into a fight? Well, there's your cure for your blacked eye. 

But its most important use for years was to flavor beer. That's right--until hops came along, ground ivy was an important ingredient in making beer. And this, I think, is why the early setters brought it with them. They were probably not sure if hops could be found or grown here, but they knew this little plant was hardy enough to adapt to new conditions. I wonder if they brought plants, or seeds? I can just imagine women--and possibly men, because you know, beer--carefully watering little plants on shipboard. The common name gill, by the way come from a Frnech word meaning "to ferment", and the name tunhoof or turnhoof comes from an old English word "tun", meaning "to drink." 

Well, adapt ground ivy certainly did. It can be found all up and down the East Coast, and is making inroads westward. Once it settles in, it's the very dickens to control. Note I did not say eradicate. I am convinced ground ivy will survive the apocalypse and cover the earth when mankind's days are over.

I am curious about that tea, though. Maybe I should try it...at least that would be one use of a plant that otherwise I just yank out with suitable mutterings and toss to the chickens.


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