Thyme ground cover planting and care in the open field

If lives on the site

thyme

(thyme), then the space acquires home comfort, which is created by the spicy warm scent of thyme and the dense "carpet" of its leaves and flowers. Thyme is welcome in the garden. It goes well with most plants and is often used as

ground cover

. 

Small bright leaves of thyme in combination with hyssop and undersized carnations will decorate any container and small flower bed. As you walk through the garden, run your hand over the thyme bush and you will find yourself in a cloud of spicy scent. And on cold winter evenings, tea from this herb is able to warm not only the body, but also the soul.

Types and varieties of thyme

Thyme is a bright representative family lacustrine... The genus numbers over 400 species, growing almost throughout the territory of the former USSR. The European part pleases with 50 different species. About 40 grow in Siberia and the Caucasus. These are half-shrubs with semi-recumbent, ascending or ascending woody stems

Most common

thyme common (Thymus vulgaris) and

creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum).

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.)

Refers to medicinal plants. The leaves are small, with pubescence on the inside. Shoots up to 15 cm tall.

This species includes several beautiful varieties with different colors of flowers: "Alba" - white, "Splendens" - deep red. Of the dwarf varieties, we single out "Elfin" - only some 5 cm in height, but it forms a dense, neat pillow with a diameter of no more than 15 cm.

Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum L.)

Creeping thyme is known to most under the name thyme, and in Russia it was affectionately called "Bogorodskaya grass". This perennial plant with creeping intertwined stems and cylindrical leaves forms a dense carpet on the ground. If you like variegated shapes and rich colors - carmine, white, pink, then this look is exactly what you need. Peduncles reach 15 cm in height; more than one century has been used in culture.

Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum L.). Photo: Borealis55, ru.wikipedia.org. Separately, it is worth noting the varieties of thyme with a pronounced lemon scent.

Lemongrass Thyme (Thymus x citriodorus (Pers.) Schreb)

It is a hybrid of two species: pulegioides and vulgaris. In winter, it requires shelter, as it is thermophilic enough and does not like a sharp drop in temperature. Its shoots reach 30 cm. Its variegated rounded leaves are very beautiful.

The plant is perennial and needs to be trimmed to maintain its shape and density.

Flea thyme (Thymus pulegioides)

A dense small bush with leaves of just over 1 cm is decorated with dense heads of mauve flowers. The flowering of the species begins in June.

Flea thyme (Thymus pulegioides). Photo: Andreas Trepte, en.wikipedia.org.

Dorfler's thyme (Thymus doerfleri)

Rarely found in culture, lives in the Balkans. It is beautiful, but does not tolerate frost very well.

The flowers are gray-pink in color, and the leaves are covered with white hairs and are curved, which gives the feeling that they are frozen in the wind.

Subarctic thyme (Thymus subarcticus)

This type of thyme is common in the forest zone of Eastern Europe.

Early thyme (Thymus praecox Opiz)

Early thyme (Thymus praecox).

1. Minor.This undersized shrub is comparable to a knitted sweater. Very fluffy and juicy.

Early Thyme Minor.

2. Pseudolanuginosus. Have you ever seen a carpet of flowers? When planting this thyme variety, you will be surprised at how it changes during the flowering period. Small fluffy leaves are covered with larger lilac flowers. There are so many flowers that the greenery is practically invisible.

Downy thyme (Thymus praecox ‘Pseudolanuginosus’). Photo: Stan Shebs, en.wikipedia.org. Whichever type of thyme you choose for your garden, you will surely not be disappointed. An unpretentious, decorative, aromatic and medicinal plant that can be eaten - ideal!

Planting, breeding and caring for thyme

Choose in your garden for thyme bright, warm place... In the shade, its stems stretch out and begin to grow poorly. In extreme cases, light partial shade is acceptable.

The reaction of the soil for the best growth of thyme should be neutral or alkaline. In terms of composition, it is best to choose light soil, well-drained and fertile. On heavy clay soils with an excessive amount of moisture, the plant can undermine, this is where drainage will be a real salvation. You can mulch the soil around the thyme with small pebbles, gravel, even rubble, when there is nothing else at hand.

Thyme propagation

• Seeds

This breeding method is good if you need to get a large amount of planting material. In the spring, seeds are sown on a ridge or in a greenhouse. After the emergence of very small seedlings, care must be taken to ensure that weeds do not interfere with the development of young seedlings. When they grow up, break through the extra ones.

Many gardeners sow thyme seeds for seedlings at home in containers, and those that have already grown are transplanted into the garden. Thyme potting mix should be

light in composition : sand and peat (1: 1). When sowing at home, when seedlings appear, the temperature is lowered and moderately moistened.

Spray small seedlings lightly when the topsoil begins to dry out. With early sowing and seedling, thyme will give flowering in the first year of planting. With a normal planting, it will bloom in the second year.

• Cuttings

We cut off the green stalk from the creeping shoot and plant it in a permanent place or in a greenhouse for growing. Reproduction in this way can be done throughout the growing season. Very low-growing creeping varieties can be propagated by cuttings no more than 5 cm. The easiest way is to plant them under a jar, moderately moisturizing. Waterlogging should not be so that the problem of root decay does not arise. After a couple of weeks, the cutting will be rooted.

• By dividing the bush

The bush is dug out, the roots are neatly separated, we plant the cuttings in pre-prepared places.

Thyme care

• A small amount of compost works well with thyme, as well as horny flour. Thyme is undemanding to fertilizers.
• After flowering or in spring, shorten the bushes, this will not only give them shape, but also externally condense them. It is worth shortening to the woody part, this is about 2/3 of the stem length.
• Thyme is undemanding to watering, but in hot dry summers it is still worth watering it sometimes so that it has the strength to bloom beautifully.
• Thyme is wonderful because it is practically not affected by diseases and pests.

Thyme - a spicy groundcover

LEAVES AND FLOWERS

There are different types of thyme (garden thyme). Roughly they can be divided into upright shrubs and ground cover creeping varieties. TO upright species thyme includes common thyme, its varieties and hybrids. It is perfect not only for growing in herb beds, but also for decorating paths and stairs. Types of fragrant soil creeping thyme can be used in sunny locations to create green lawns. They grow well in rocky gardens, near dry stone walls and separately in pots. You can use creeping thyme as a spice; its aroma is softer than that of common thyme. Thyme exudes a fragrant scent when it touches the leaves.The taste of thyme depends on the variety - the common thyme has the most pronounced taste, the lemon thyme is less spicy, the caraway thyme is famous for its cedar-cedar aroma. Plant these plants in pots and place them in places of active movement: at the kitchen door or on the terrace. In addition, the spicy herb will always be at your fingertips. For the winter, potted thyme is best brought into the house. Place it in a bright, cool place and water it sparingly.

Types of upright thyme:

• Thyme ordinary
• Lemon thyme
• Lemon thyme varieties

Types of creeping thyme:

• Creeping thyme
• Thyme caraway
• Dorfleri thyme
• Early arctic thyme
• Fluffy thyme

LANDING AND CARE

You need

• thyme seedlings in pots
• sand or compost
• trowel
• secateurs

1) In the spring, after the last frost, dig a hole twice as wide and deeper than the pot containing the thyme seedling.

2) Mix equal parts of sand (for clay soil, compost) with earth and pour a little mixture into the bottom of the pit.

3) Remove the thyme from the pot and spread the roots. Plant the plant at the same depth as it was in the pot.

4) Fill the hole with earth, sweep the surface and water. Thyme prefers dry soil, so water less often later.

5) Cut off dead shoots in the spring. If the plant looks lifeless, do not cut the shoots - they may still come to life.

Valuable advice: At the end of summer, you can cut stem cuttings from the plant. Choose healthy thyme shoots with 4-6 leaves and plant them in pots with a mixture of earth and sand. Place the pot on a sunny windowsill. All winter you will have fresh thyme leaves on your table.

For your information

Old lignified thyme shoots freeze in severe winters. Prune your plants regularly, removing old, bare and weak branches. The appearance of brown leaves in thyme may indicate a fungal infection caused by a lack of sunlight or poor air circulation. Thin thickened bushes urgently to improve air and light access. Thyme must be divided regularly. The plant is divided every three years.

To help the gardener

Purchase

• Buy only strong, densely branched thyme bushes that grow in separate pots. They should have healthy leaves.
• Never buy overgrown thyme seedlings or plants with brown or dry leaves.

Seat selection

• Full sun. Thyme grows best in a warm, dry place. In partial shade, thyme becomes unstable to disease.
• Loose, permeable soil, as thyme is prone to root rot.

Advice

• Thyme flowers are edible and can be used to decorate dishes. They have the same aroma as the leaves, but have a more delicate taste.
• In damp places, add a lot of sand to the soil before planting the thyme.

Gardener's calendar:

Spring - Plant thyme seedlings outdoors from mid-May. Prune the overwintered plants a little.

Summer - To dry, cut the thyme shoots before flowering and hang them upside down in a dry, shady place. You can cut the shoots with flowers. Since August, it is advisable not to cut the plant.

Autumn - in regions with a harsh climate, mulch thyme with leaves or compost, in cold winters it is better to cover it with spruce branches.

Ambulance: Sluggish plants with yellowed leaves and rotting stems may be affected by root rot. This disease appears due to waterlogging of the soil. Ensure good drainage before planting. Destroy the infected parts of the plant.

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• thyme roots rot

Thyme - this perennial small stature, only 15-25 cm high, the shrub is decorative and lush flowering. Gardeners consider thyme to be the best ground cover plant, and among its many species, the evergreen form is the most popular - creeping thyme or Thyme.

Calling thyme thyme, I was not mistaken, it really is one and the same plant - you can read in detail the article on the relationship of thyme with thyme and its beneficial properties for human health on this site.

In plantings, thyme forms a dense, beautifully flowering carpet. Exactly about planting thyme in the garden and caring for him and will be discussed in this article.

Thyme creeping planting and caring for a photo.

Morphologically, creeping thyme is a good neighbor for other flowers, it beautifully fills the empty space between the compositions in the flowerbed, attracts bees, by the way, flies do not like thyme, for which it received another apt name - fly fist.

Thyme meadow - Altai, photo

Creeping thyme is not afraid of frost, drought-resistant, occurs in the wild in pine forests on the edges and sandy slopes, in the steppe and even in the mountains. It blooms from early June to late September with small lilac or purple flowers. In the photo below is thyme in the Altai mountains.

Blooming thyme in the Altai mountains - photo.

For gardeners who decide plant creeping thyme on plots you need to know that he does not like moisture and areas with stagnant water, excess moisture leads to rotting of the roots and the death of the plant. When using thyme in group plantings with other plants, take care of good drainage, you can make it from fine gravel with sand, sprinkling around the plant, and be sure to add this mixture to the planting hole. Do not be afraid, this will not damage the growth of the plant.

Thyme plant photos

Watering thyme creeping should be done in moderation and only during drought periods or before flowering, watering with liquid fertilizer, you will achieve a more lush and long flowering. In practice, thyme requires almost no maintenance, except for pruning, it tolerates drought and lack of fertilization well.

How to grow thyme.

You can grow creeping thyme by dividing the bushes in spring, using cuttings or seeds. The first two methods are suitable for lovers of varietal crops - "I want it or like from a neighbor", I advise them to buy cultivated decorative varieties of thyme in the nursery. For everyone else, the old grandfather's way of planting creeping thyme, proven for centuries, is suitable - growing with seeds that are easy to collect from the same neighbor.

Just remember thyme seeds ripen unevenly and tend to crumble to the ground, place a newspaper over the plant and shake the thyme plants lightly, dry the crumbled thyme seeds in a warm place, avoiding open sunlight when drying. The germination capacity of the thyme seeds collected in this way lasts three years, and they themselves are very small, 1000 pcs. weighs less than 1 gram.

Thyme planting seeds and care in the open field.

On the street, thyme seeds are planted at a temperature of 12-15 degrees, in spring or autumn at your discretion, in the spring the soil should at least warm up a little, I am guided by the "cry" of the vine.

When planting thyme outdoors I dig the grooves quite deep, on a bayonet and a bayonet and a half of a shovel wide. Then I fill it all with the prepared soil mixture. Actually, I prepare the mixture for planting thyme seeds right in the grooves, below is a complex fertilizer, 40 grams per meter, sand, gravel, humus - about 40% of the groove in depth. All this is thoroughly mixed with a shovel, on top I add a layer of pure black soil another 30%, and spill it well with water. Then humus with black earth in a ratio of 1: 1, I moisten the resulting bed from a watering can, then, planting thyme seeds, lightly press them into the ground and sprinkle them with earth, leveling the soil.

Recently, I began to cover the planting site of thyme seeds with scraps of glass, protecting it from birds (it can also be a plastic film, only it must be removed in time so that the thyme seedlings do not get sick with root rot in the resulting greenhouse). The birds do not eat seeds, they are very small, but, digging through the ground, they pull them to the surface and they do not sprout.

After germination, when the seedlings of creeping thyme grow up, and they can be distinguished from the sprouted grass, I thin out, leaving one plant by 20 cm (first three in a bunch, then thin out again).

Care for thyme seedlings no special is needed, only weeding and mulching after watering or rains. You do not need to fertilize thyme in the year of planting, water the next year in the spring with the addition of liquid fertilizer for flowers. If you want a dense lawn, as an alternative to grass lawn, regularly prune the thyme, shortening the stems of the plant by a third. In the fall, be sure to clean the thyme plant of dried or diseased, damaged shoots.

Creeping thyme or thyme. An example of use in landscape design is a photo.

In one place, creeping thyme grows well for 5-10 years, without requiring special care, although there have been cases of growth in abandoned gardens and up to 30 years. Thyme plants are sick mainly with root rot and its varieties, but, as a rule, the gardeners themselves are to blame for this by over-watering the plants or choosing the wrong one place for planting thyme.

In our article, we will try to describe in detail the planting process and the rules for caring for creeping thyme in simple and understandable language.

You can also see a photo of the plant, learn about the methods of its reproduction, get information about the use and healing properties of the culture for the health of the body.

In common people, thyme is called thyme, although this is not the only name given to it over time, simply the most common. The plant is also called Bogorodskaya grass.

Varieties of culture, which include about a hundred species, can be found both in Europe, Southeast Asia and in northern Africa.

Description and healing properties

"Courageous" is the translation of the word thyme from the Latin language. This plant belongs to the Yasnotkovy family.

Purple flowers, with small elongated leaves, grow on a dwarf shrub, reaching up to 15 cm in height. Thyme is often found along roadsides, near rocks, or in clearings open to the sun.

Thyme herb has medicinal properties. Scientists have found an essential oil in it, which is produced from the green part of the bush, the one that is closer to the ground. The main components of the oil are thymol, oleic acid and vitamins.

Due to these components, the shrub can be used to cleanse the blood, improve digestion, as an antipyretic and sedative.

It is interesting: thyme is used as a stuffing for a pillow, because according to legends it gave longevity and health to a sleeping person.

To raise the tone, gain strength, the ancient Greeks took a bath with thyme, and the Egyptians used it as a perfume, as well as when embalming the dead.

Types and varieties

Bogorodskaya grass is a semi-shrub because it tends to spread over the ground, thereby turning into a fragrant green carpet.

Common varieties:

1. Semi-shrub up to 10 cm high with lilac flowers - variety Kolkhida.
2. A dense carpet of pink leaves framed with a yellow stripe - Donna Vale.
3. The herb with the exquisite name of the Silver Queen grows in a rare carpet, 20 cm high. The shoots are densely placed to each other, during flowering they have a lavender hue.

Other varieties:

1. Common thyme. Shoots have a color close to white or purple. A light fluff is located on the back of the leaves. The height of the bush is 10 cm.
2. Lemon-scented thyme. It is called so because of the unobtrusive scent of lemon, which is spread by yellowish leaves. It is found in several forms, here are the most famous:
   • Aurea leaves have a bright yellow color.
   • The shoots of Bertram Anderson are painted in a green shade with yellow specks.
3. Our country is rich in such varieties:
   • Early Minor thyme - it has small fluffy leaves.
   • Pseudolanuginosus (Pseudolanuginosus) is a profusely flowering plant with pointed green leaves. It is used in the creation of rockeries, rock gardens, as part of other landscape compositions.

Reproduction

Thyme is capable of multiplying in three ways, provided that it is in the open field:

1. Seminal. In autumn, material suitable for planting is collected and dried until spring, after which it is sown and covered with a film. They are planted both in spring and autumn.
2. By cutting a cutting... They are selected from the strongest when pruning in spring or autumn. As a practical matter, the seedling forming a new bush is already matured.
3. By dividing in half... Attention this method can be painful for the plant. It is necessary to dig up the bush completely and divide it into two halves with special care. If in the process you damage the root system, then the new shoot can get sick or worse, die.

Landing

Loose soil is a favorable environment for planting and growing thyme. Also, abundant sunbathing has a positive effect on growth, so it is necessary to plant thyme in a place accessible to them.

It is important to dig up a plot in the fall, with special zeal, so that the plant can get along in a new place for it. To this, it is necessary to add fertilizers of an organic basis, it can be both compost and manure.

Once again, the soil will need to be dug up in the spring, when the temperature outside will be more than 13 degrees. The next step is planting seeds.

note: after planting thyme, it is worth sprinkling it a little, with sand taken from the river bank. Thus, the influx of elements important for growth to the young plant is ensured, and excess moisture is not formed on the surface.

The shoots should rise and grow a little, after which they can be thinned out, make the distance between the seedlings about 25-30 cm.

It is interesting that it is possible to plant seeds even in winter, the seedlings will be an indispensable assistant in this matter. Thyme is planted in boxes prepared in advance and should be watered regularly, moderately.

Thanks to the glass under which the plant is located, a greenhouse effect is created, which accelerates growth. After 3-4 weeks, it is necessary to take out the seedlings, for hardening, outside. And after about 2 weeks, you can plant the thyme in the place where the plant will grow for its entire long life.

Care and feeding

The most important procedure to do first after planting is to pinch the end of the stem. This is done specifically so that the shoot forms a sprawling and beautiful bush.

Thyme is a perennial crop and, like everything, needs pruning, which is carried out every season. When flowering stops, this happens in the fall, it is important to shorten the shrub. Changes from this procedure will be visible in the next season. The plant will take on a compacted form.

The uprooting of weeds and frequent weeding is necessary for the Bogorodskaya grass, because foreign plants take up most of the nutrients.

Watering should be done about twice a week, provided the weather is not too dry. If the air temperature is not very hot, then this procedure can be carried out less often.

It's important to know: Before winter, cover the shoots with peat or leaves that have already fallen to the ground.

It is interesting that the introduction of wood ash into the open ground will have a better effect on the seedling than fresh manure. This option will reduce the concentration of acids in the soil.

Urea is a good tool for the first feeding of the Bogorodskaya grass, which is carried out in early spring. In the first year of cultivation, this is done even before the emergence of the shoot, and in the second when pruning in the spring, this is done in the following years.

Pests and diseases

This plant tolerates all attacks from bacteria and pests. However, there are a few insects that can ruin thyme's life.These can be meadow moths, weevils, or even aphids.

It is interesting that there are fungal diseases that can have a negative impact on perennial crops. They arise from improper care. If you follow all the rules described above, this will not happen with your escape.

Timely loosening of the soil, deep digging of soil under seeds and weeding will eliminate the appearance of pests. You can also exclude their appearance if you add lime containing fertilizers.

Application in landscape design

Since thyme is a low-growing plant, in landscape design it is used as a background for mixboards. Looks great among stones and talus from them.

Growing thyme, you get a lot of pleasure from contemplating its appearance. The fluffy pads on the leaves and the aromatic spicy smell serve to delight the sense of smell, touch and vision.

It is interesting that by making a beautiful composition of thyme and plants that are combined with it, and this: heuchera, wormwood, cucumber beds and mint, you can get amazing photos.

For more information on growing thyme, see the following video: