Plant Story Of The Thyme Lawn
That's because I removed the grass from my lawn and planted thyme in that space. I reasoned that the front lawn was never needed for a picnic or a croquet game and mowing was tedious. It has worked wonderfully. The small plants I planted have spread to cover all the space:
In late May, they flower and my thyme lawn is abuzz in bees. Bees love the flowers!
The thyme lawn never needs mowing. It does need weeding--dandelions, bluegrass and all the local weeds seed in. It also needs to be trimmed back: the plants would happily expand to cover the sidewalk.
Originally I planted two species of thyme (varieties of Thymus serpyllum and T. praecox) and a speedwell (turkish speedwell, Veronica liwanensis) since I reasoned that monocultures were unnatural. Eight years later most of the speedwells have vanished, outcompeted by the thymes. While nature rarely has a monoculture, it is not because the individual species have any objection to creating a monoculture. Most species will crowd out all others if the conditions permit.
But I weed. If I pull out the dandelions and bluegrass I can maybe keep a lawn of just the two species of thyme and a bit of speedwell. If I quit intervening, the lawn would doubtless become more diverse, with a variety of local weedy plants moving in. Some would be taller plants than the thymes which would shade them out except along the edges of the lawn. So I weed, and this year, removed the thyme immediately around the surviving speedwells, in order to help them stay in the lawn.
Some years all three plants flower at the same time, but usually the speedwell is first, then the tiny-flowered thyme and then the larger-flowered thyme. They make a grand display!
Tired of mowing your lawn? Try thyme!
Comments and corrections welcome.
That's because I removed the grass from my lawn and planted thyme in that space. I reasoned that the front lawn was never needed for a picnic or a croquet game and mowing was tedious. It has worked wonderfully. The small plants I planted have spread to cover all the space:
The lawn just after it was planted. |
Mature lawn |
The thyme lawn never needs mowing. It does need weeding--dandelions, bluegrass and all the local weeds seed in. It also needs to be trimmed back: the plants would happily expand to cover the sidewalk.
Originally I planted two species of thyme (varieties of Thymus serpyllum and T. praecox) and a speedwell (turkish speedwell, Veronica liwanensis) since I reasoned that monocultures were unnatural. Eight years later most of the speedwells have vanished, outcompeted by the thymes. While nature rarely has a monoculture, it is not because the individual species have any objection to creating a monoculture. Most species will crowd out all others if the conditions permit.
But I weed. If I pull out the dandelions and bluegrass I can maybe keep a lawn of just the two species of thyme and a bit of speedwell. If I quit intervening, the lawn would doubtless become more diverse, with a variety of local weedy plants moving in. Some would be taller plants than the thymes which would shade them out except along the edges of the lawn. So I weed, and this year, removed the thyme immediately around the surviving speedwells, in order to help them stay in the lawn.
Small purple thyme flowers and larger, bluer speedwell flowers |
Tired of mowing your lawn? Try thyme!
Comments and corrections welcome.
Kathy Keeler, A Wandering Botanist
More at awanderingbotanist.com
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