PlantFiles: Dichondra, Kidney Weed
Dichondra repens

This stuff came up voluntarily in one of my flower beds - I think it may have hitched a ride home on something else.

All I know is that I can NOT get rid of it. Every time I think I have gotten it all, it pops back up.--On the other hand, it makes a very good, cute ground cover (like little lily pads) so i just decided to give up and let it have a small area.

Dichondra repens leaves have green undersides; whereas, Asian kidney weed (Dichondra micrantha) leaves have a grayish undersides.

I absolutely love this groundcover. Although it is reported to be less rugged than 'regular' grass, I've found the opposite to be true. Thsi stuff can withstand kids playing on it constantly, too much water, too little water, hot sun, shade, whatever you want to throw at it. In hotter, dryer environments, it simply grows shorter and the leaves are smaller. In shade and wetter soil, it grows taller and the leaves get bigger. But it's nearly impossible to kill it. The only thing that ever came close for me killing it was accidentally spilling dry fertilizer on it. But even that only turned the spot brown for 2 weeks and then it came back as beautiful as before. I have nothing but positive things to say about this stuff.

I did want to add that this is perhaps more commonly listed as Dichondra micrantha...and sometimes also as Dichondra carolinensis.

We were told that years ago, our house had a dichondra lawn. Even now, when we clear out grass for a flower bed or vegetable garden, some dichondra will sprout. I have never seen it bloom, but it keeps coming back. Rather than seeing it as a weed, I see it as a link to the past history of the house. A few streets away from us there was a house that had a dichondra lawn until recently. The yard was above the level of the street, and from the sidewalk, the lawn was just about at eye level. It was like looking across a lake covered with tiny lily pads.

This is used as lawns in frostfree regions.
Propagation is by seeds or plugs, same as grass.