Tag: problems with creeping thyme

Creeping Thyme Update

A couple of years ago I wrote a post, “Creeping Thyme Problems“, about my patch of creeping thyme that was totally a disaster. This post has also become one of my most popular, so I must not be alone in having ugly creeping thyme!

Creeping Thyme

After some scary, severe winter pruning, it came in the next spring healthy and lush.

Creeping Thyme

A couple years later, I’ve pruned it a bit more each year to keep it fresh and it’s still looking great. Except for the grass that has crept in.

If you’ve tried to get the grass out of ground cover mid-summer, it’s a thankless job.  I tried to bribe the kids, but to no avail.

While walking around the yard checking everything out a few days ago, I noticed that the grass was greening up and was easy to spot and pull out while the creeping thyme was still dormant.

Definitely easier than pulling it out mid-summer when everything is green and thick. You need to get right down to the grass roots, otherwise you’ve just “cut” the grass and it’ll come right back. Since the thyme is dormant, it’s easy to find the roots and not have to dig around and disturb everything.

This is a new job I’m adding to my spring garden prep list that will hopefully save me weeding time in the heat of the summer. It’s also a useful time to pull out the creeping charlie that is starting to green up and “creep’ its way around the garden.

Looking forward to thick lush creeping thyme that smells great when I walk on it this summer!

 

 

Creeping Thyme Problems

When we first redid the landscape along the back of the house, we included a small stone walkway to get to the spigot.  It was a full sun location, and needed to take some light foot traffic.  We settled on Creeping Thyme.

Creeping Thyme

I thought it was no maintenance, but over the years it become more ingrown with grass and full of woody stems.  These plants look NOTHING like it’s supposed to.  I’ll put this in the truly embarrassing category.

Creeping Thyme

The only way I know of to really keep the grass out is to keep a clean cut edge with the lawn and pull it as soon as you see it sprouting.  You need to get right down to the roots, otherwise you’ve just “cut” the grass.  That means pulling back the thyme and getting under it to get the whole grass shoot. Rather tedious, but easier to do early rather then later.

The woody stem issue is something easier to deal with.  It simply requires some attention each spring.  After the first year, the plants can be lightly pruned back, about 1/3 max.  This keep the plants rejuvenated and full.  Be careful to cut above the new growth, or it will not regrow.  Cutting is also better than trying to pull out the dead, woody parts.  The plants have fairly shallow roots and you just end up ripping everything out.

Before:

Creeping Thyme

After:

Creeping Thyme

This is what it looks like now.

Creeping Thyme

I have a feeling this is going to be a multi-year process.  We’ll see how it looks in a couple of weeks.  If still looking peaked after a few weeks, I may need to add some fresh plants and chalk it up to a learning experience.  If it does seem healthy, I may be able to divide the plants and make new clumps.  You can also do this if the plant has become too woody in the center (oldest growth) and you want the outer, younger growth to grow unimpeded.

Overall, I think is still the best plant for the location, it just takes a little bit of care and attention.  No matter how it looks, it smells wonderful to work with and walk on!

What is your experience with Creeping Thyme?

Update: Check out what the creeping thyme looked a year later in this more recent blog post–August, Oops, September Garden Update 

Another Update: Still looking great but needs the infiltrating grass needs some attention —Creeping Thyme Update