Replaced our lawn with thyme.

by Linda Young
(Buffalo, NY USA)

Thyme in bloom June 17

When we decided to convert to a grass free lawn in front of our house, we knew nothing about ground covers or drought smart plants.

We bought eight or 10 varieties of ground covers and watched the results. Although we have some of the original plants still growing the hands down best performer was the thyme.

After one growing season it was obvious we would have a mostly thyme lawn. The added benefit was that after the initial purchase, we never bought another plant.

Strategically placed cuttings and a little patience lead to a lush carpet that almost never gets watered and becomes lavender in early Summer.

Comments for Replaced our lawn with thyme.

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Sep 26, 2017

Watering
by: Jacki

Sometimes, it will go brown, but in the spring it will come back. Thorough, frequent watering, especially during long hot spells is best until it's established. You haven't said where you are, Claudia, so it's hard to give guidelines.

Sep 26, 2017

I need advice please
by: Claudia

I planted my whole back lawn space with Wooly Thyme a year ago and it grew beautifully in spring. I mowed it a few times because it was very tall and mostly because the top was green but the bottom was brown. Now, end of summer, it has a lot of brown patches and I can't decide if I'm watering it too much or not enough. How much water do you give Wooly Thyme the first year??

Aug 18, 2017

Flies, or Bees?
by: Jacki

Thyme attracts bees, some of which are tiny little pollinator, solitary bees.

Generally, they are not aggressive and just want to get to the business of collecting pollen for their young.

Is this what you're seeing?

If so, they won't hang around after the thyme finishes flowering (well, they will, but you most likely won't see them).

You could weed whack all the flowers off, but the bloom time is so short lived, maybe this is not an option.

Stay strong, V!

Aug 18, 2017

Mature thyme after 2 years
by: V

Spent lots of hours and money converting lawn to creeping thyme. Was so looking forward to beautiful, maintenance free ground cover, but to my horror, found that thyme draws flies! Is there a remedy or must I choose between a fly covered yard or completely removing all that creeping thyme?

Jun 22, 2015

Choke those weeds!
by: Jacki

Thyme in time will get so thick that it completely shades out the weeds, so eventually there are none. That's what I've found in my garden, anyway. Thyme will also choke out big clumps of Sempervivum and kill them!

Jun 22, 2015

Beautiful
by: Mary

That is beautiful - what a good alternative to grass. But how is the weeding? What do you do?

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