In front of our garden shed I planted Thymus serpyllum that I started indoors from seeds. I sowed seeds in pots in April and planted the young seedlings in this area in June. Over the past five years, this is the ground cover that has grown.
Thyme is one of the best ground covers for dry areas, slopes and full sun. It’s attractive 12 months a year, and smells nice as well. The varieties of Thyme that you use for groundcover are different from those you’d plant for cooking, however. Use Thymus serphllum, Thymus pseudolanuginosus (wooly thyme) or Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus ‘Doretta Klaber’ for ground cover plants.
Thyme is pretty easy to grow from seed – scatter the seeds on top of the soil where you want it to grow, and then water every four or five days while those seeds germinate. Or you can start seeds inside in the early spring and transplant outdoors later in June.
Thyme does best in well drained soils, or on slopes where the water runs off. Don’t plant them in places where you’ll have automatic irrigation…frequent splashing of foliage is the kiss of death for this plant! Know that when the thyme flowers it attracts many bees.
Treat this plant well, however, and you’ll be able to walk through time (thyme) on a regular basis.
