A no work lawn

A few years of experimenting with various ground covers has resulted in a wonderful lawn that needs no mowing, fertilizing or watering.
It started with a few wooly thyme plants that now cover several hundred square feet. (The photo was taken in 2009.)
Not only does it provide a gorgeous carpet to walk on, but it smells nice, has lovely flowers in late spring and early summer and is easily controlled (it is perhaps the most gently invasive plant I know).
I tried other thymes (creeping, lemon, etc), but the wooly is the lowest-growing, the softest and my favourite.
By the way, when the house was built, the entire yard was filled with years of neighbourhood refuse including morning glories, broom, blackberries, etc. So, after building, the entire yard area was covered with civil-engineering-grade landscape cloth and about 4 inches of fir bark mulch.
Those original little thyme plants had no soil, except for what was in their pots. Six years later, they are doing fine.
What a concept, no soil and no work. What amazing plants.

 

Very nice, an excellent example.

 

I like it. Looks nice. More people should consider replacing their lawns. But does it get slippery when wet?

 

Nope. never slippery. And it is green all year except it goes a bit grey-green in winter.

 

So much better than lawn.

 

I like it. Now, just get the shady bits into moss & you got 'er done!

Thanks for sharing that.

 

great idea. looks great.

 

whereabouts does one acquire wooly thyme plants?

 

Most garden centres and nurseries carry them. Or, if you want to plant a 'serious' wooly thyme lawn, Richters Herbs sells 120 plugs for $65.
http://tinyurl.com/cnm5fav