I plan to be dividing and transplanting quite a bit of my wooly thyme yard shortly. Some of the sections I plan to use are quite "leggy" from growing over rocky areas. So, after dividing, should I simply transplant them as is or should I cut them back at the same time? Thanks.
I give away flats of it in the spring to those who need deer deterents. I trim it back before I dig it up only to make it easy to work around the stones and to ensure I'm getting good roots. Hope this helps. Les
"Re: Wooly thyme: follow-up on transplanting I give away flats of it in the spring to those who need deer deterents." Ihuget: "Deer deterrent"? Can you please elaborate? We have problems in our neighbourhood with deer munching on tulips. Will woolly thyme planted between them give them protection? What about other thymes?
Keeping in mind that if deer are hungry enough they will eat no matter what you try, they seem to avoid certain plants if they can and thymus is one that works for many. People plant it in their garden borders and around their saplings and hedges. The thymes I have that supposedly work in my area are thymus doerfleri (I have 'Bressingham'), thymus pseudolanoginosus and thymus citriodorus. Note: that lemon thyme is also supposed to repel mosquitoes but I think that's debatable. Hope this helps. Les
Ihuget: I am in the process of covering all my landscaped areas with selected ground covers for the purpose of moisture preservation. In the case of tulips, they poke right through the woolly thyme. See my post (the one with the picture poted on Feb 19) in "Xeriscaping: What does Xeriscaping mean?" for further details barrolini: I have transplanted a lot of woolly thyme as well as other thymes last spring and did not cut those scraggly runners back. In my experience they will root and fill out. This may have been helped by my adding peat moss at the rate of a 3 cf bail per 400 sf. The moisture retention of the peat moss may well have aided the rooting.
Do you find that woolly thyme goes grey in winter? No doubt it will turn green soon again here in Victoria, but I was surprised. The Corsican Mint I have planted remained green as well as several other tiny groundcovers [I would have to get pen and paper and itemize] including Elfin Thyme [which, however, seemed to shrink down and look winter-frightened, but stayed green] . I am looking for a collection of groundcovers which remain green and add additional green cover to a townhouse front garden, as well as the ground mosses I have added in from various places, during the winter here in Victoria/Saanich. As soon as I acquire the right digital camera I will supply photos...
janetdoyle: Hi. Yes, the wooly thyme, which covers my rocky rear yard area, does indeed turn gray-green over the winter. In my yard, the thyme is interspersed with a lot of rocky areas, and I don't mind the "graying" that much. But it is certainly not as vibrant as during the summertime. I can send photos of summer and winter colour if that would be helpful. barrolini
No, that's fine, thanks we can get some photos going later in the season when there's more to see... the shortcut of just the verbal description in this case is perfect -- I am glad to hear that that is what it does in winter... I must say, though, that the Corsican Mint really does stay vividly green...
My wooly thyme turned a lovely blue-grey over the winter. I think it looks great with my other, greener, groundcovers. First year I've grown it.
