Chameleon Plant invading garden and lawn

Question: How to get rid of Chameleon plant?    This invasive plant is spreading wildly through our garden from our neighbor’s yard,  and now into the lawn.  I’ve used Round up for 2 years in the garden, but the sprouts continue to invade.  

Now the lawn is full of sprouts!  I pulled them all out last year, but this year there are more than ever.  Is it ok to pull them out of the lawn?  they seem to come up easily.  But clearly it’s not stopping anything.   What do we need to do???

The first pic is sprouts in the lawn. The second is the sprouts in the garden.

responder: Karolyn  Replied June 19, 2023, 10:50 AM EDT
response: Hi Caroline, Chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata) is a right pain to control, or remove from your yard. As you may know it spreads by rhizomes and will regenerate from broken stems if left in the soil. This means that hand remove while effective, will take a while to fully remove the plant. The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center describes Chameleon plant as being somewhat resistant to herbicides. https://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=6850  A combination of hand removal and possible herbicide application may be needed to achieve desired results.  A non-selective herbicide like glyphosate, when the plants are actively growing, is typically used. You will need to allow it time to be translocated throughout the plant to the roots – read the label of the product you are using. Wait a minimum of 7-10 days. This would allow it to affect the underground stems.  All plant parts should be disposed of in a black, plastic bag - this is not a plant you want in your compost! Information on the plant and its life cycle - https://hvp.osu.edu/pocketgardener/source/description/ho_rdata.html

responder: The Question Asker Replied June 19, 2023, 10:59 AM EDT
response: Thank you for getting back to me.  I see how I can keep going after the plants in the garden….however, I’m not sure what I can do about the sprouts in the lawn. Is there any herbicide that will work in the lawn without destroying the grass??Would it be effective if I keep pulling out all of the sprouts from the lawn, or will it continue to spread via rhizomes even if they never grow up into plants?I’m getting very nervous about our lawn!  We just killed it off last year and replanted it due to overgrown areas of bermuda grass.  It’s now looking great with much better grasses for this area.On Jun 19, 2023, at 10:50 AM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

responder: Karolyn  Replied June 19, 2023, 11:41 AM EDT
response: Hand removal of the chameleon plant from your lawn is the assured way to avoid harming the turf grass with herbicide. There is a new version of Roundup (a brand name for glyphosate) that is selective in what it kills; https://bygl.osu.edu/index.php/node/699  however I have no definite information on whether it is as effective in killing the chameleon plant. In my yard I use glyphosate to eradicate lesser celandine (https://bygl.osu.edu/node/1016), in instances where this plant appears in a flower bed I will paint the herbicide on the plant to avoid any spray transfer to desirable plants. If there are clusters of chameleon in your  lawn you might try this approach.  You might try a combination of hand digging, herbicide, and good lawn care to preserve your turf. Fall over seeding is an approach that leads to a denser lawn, combined with other organic methods https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-4031

responder: The Question Asker Replied June 19, 2023, 2:32 PM EDT
response: Thanks Karolyn…. that lesser celandine is also a nemesis for us!  I’ve been winning that battle by spraying each of them over and over as soon as we see them in the spring.  It’s an ongoing battle, that will never end since my other neighbor thinks it’s pretty to have his lawn full of it in the spring!  ugh!On Jun 19, 2023, at 11:41 AM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote: