Ground Ivy – a perennial weed that will creep all over your garden/lawn/compost pile, many pull it and try to rid it, but not here in the Mayernik Garden. We have grown to love our weeds that pop up and this was the first year Ground Ivy has made an appearance in our front yard and also along the boarder of our compost piles.
Ground Ivy is in the Lamiaceae family, also known as the mint family. The plant has a classic square stem with kidney shaped opposite leaves with small blue-violet flowers. Ground Ivy shows up in the late spring, early summer weeks and tends to create a carpet of green leaves and purple flowers. Ground Ivy is also called Creeping Charlie, Alehoof, and Gill-over-the-Ground.
When we first spotted our first patch of Ground Ivy, we allowed it to grow and creep knowing we wanted to harvest it to make a tincture that will help aid others in digestion, congestion and menstrual cramps.