Red creeping thyme is a perennial herbaceous plant with small dark-pink or magenta-red flowers, dark-green aromatic leaves, and woody stems. Red creeping thyme (Thymus praecox ‘Coccineus’) What is Red Creeping Thyme ( Thymus praecox ‘Coccineus’)? As well as pictures and descriptions of the red-flowering ground cover plant, you will get handy tips on propagating, planting, and growing red creeping thyme in your garden landscape. This article is an identification and growing guide for the popular red creeping thyme shrub. Its trailing flowering aromatic stems also work well in containers or hanging baskets. In addition to being ideal for full-sun ground cover, you can plant it as a border plant or edging to add color and texture to foundation plantings or as a lawn alternative. Red creeping thyme has several uses in a garden landscape. In addition to its visual appeal, the small dark-green leaves are exceedingly fragrant and give off a herby aroma. The horizontally spreading stems root in the soil and are covered with densely growing dark green leaves and dark pink-reddish flowers. The beauty of red creeping thyme is that it is low maintenance and requires little effort to grow. And when red creeping thyme blooms in summer, it transforms gardens with a carpet of dark pink, magenta, and deep reddish hues. Creeping thyme, with its semi-evergreen foliage, is an excellent mat-forming landscaping shrub. Red creeping thyme is a colorful, herbaceous ground cover shrub with spectacular deep pink-red tubular flowers. Some people do mow the thyme lawn after flowers are spent, but it’s okay to be a little lazy and leave the area as is.Email Pinterest Facebook Twitter Linkedin Thereafter, say goodbye to fertilizing, thatching, regular watering, and even mowing if you so desire. Plant the thyme plugs about 8 inches (20 cm.) apart and water in well. Prior to planting, make sure the thyme plants are damp. When the soil is ready to be worked, add some bone meal or rock phosphate along with some compost to the soil and work it in, down to about 6 inches (15 cm.) since thyme has short roots. Hey, patience is a virtue though, right?! Till the area when the process is completed and remove any big chunks of rock or root before attempting to transplant the thyme plugs. This method requires patience, as it takes two seasons to completely kill off the top and even longer to get all the roots. The idea here is to cut off all light to the grass and weeds underneath, basically smothering the plants. Lastly, you can always make a lasagna garden by covering the entire area with black plastic, cardboard, or lots of newspaper layers covered in straw or sawdust. The next option is good old-fashioned, back breaking, digging up of the sod. Of course, you can always go with the easy, albeit not so eco-friendly method of multiple applications of herbicide. It takes some doing to rid the area of all the existing grass. The biggest problem with using thyme to replace grass is the work it will take preparing the site. You can also alternate varieties or create a pattern by planting a different type of thyme around the border of the pseudo-lawn.
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