Creeping Thyme Lawn

Traditional lawns bore me. They're a lush desert that consumes labor and water. They do take a lot of traffic and are great for kids. Minimizing the lawn is both eco-friendly and labor-saving. Thyme Lawn.

Popular alternatives include creeping thyme. They stay low to the ground, survive drought, cold, and traffic, and have a wonderful aroma. How to start a thyme lawn? How should it be cared for after it's growing?

So many gardeners asked us how to grow a Creeping Thyme lawn that we decided to blog about it. For every inquiry we received, 10 folks had questions but didn't ask.

It All Begins With Seed

Unless you're a Rockefeller, don't buy masses of creeping thyme for your lawn. Seed is cheap and effective. Patience pays off, like many good things. Slow-growing thyme seedlings won't alter your garden in a month or two.

Sowing in trays allows better germination control and uses less water. You can keep transplanting and using tip cuttings to multiply your plants.

It's possible to place seeds directly where they'll develop, but we recommend mixing them with sand to help disseminate them and avoiding foot traffic when the plants are young and vulnerable.

Can You Walk on Creeping Thyme?

In the introduction, we briefly discussed whether one can walk on creeping thyme. Creeping thyme is walkable, although not in high-traffic areas. Use stepping stones to build paths in high-traffic locations.

Our landscaping professor told us as students that people are like water: they follow the quickest course. Curvy routes may appear nice, but they're less likely to be used if there's a shorter route. Your current lawn may have worn paths. When replacing grass with thyme lawn, mark and maintain walkways.

Do You Have to Mow, Weed, and Fertilize Thyme Lawn?

After flowering, creeping thyme becomes woody and leggy. A light mowing (only once with high mower blades) will rejuvenate them.

Thyme thrives in low soils. That saves you from fertilizer applications. Use slow-release fertilizer and feed lightly if you chose to feed.

Weeding can be a pain, so your Thyme lawn will take time to grow. Once it's established, creeping Thyme chokes out weeds as well as grass.

Before planting, remove as many roots as possible. It's hard labor, but it will save you so much afterwards. In the end, you'll have a low-maintenance, aromatic "lawn"

Time for Thyme!

Take it gently if you're switching to Thyme. Planting a patch at a time lets you to accomplish the task well, establishing one little area at a time. Spreading the labor out makes each patch a tiny victory.

Grow plants until you have enough cover. Rewarding? Indeed! Imagine lying on a patch of Thyme and inhaling its perfume. It's the ultimate reward for your hard work. Heavenly in bloom!