Thyme lawn

So, after all my thoughts and plans and musings over my, ahem, "lawn" last year, I didn't manage to get anything done but it will be happening this year!

I've decided against the weed/plant mix I was going to go before because physically, I simply cannot manage a large lawn that requires mowing with any regularity and I've just had to admit defeat on that front.

What I'm going to have instead is a creeping thyme lawn. What I need to know from you lovely people is how best to prepare the ground for it!

I'll be removing the old lawn with a turf cutter in April/May. My soil is sandy and I'll be growing the thyme from seed. Does it require foot flattening like a grass lawn would for seeing, or can I just rake it a bit and seed direct? I know I'll need to wait until the end of the frosts to sow.

Also, how long would it take to reach the point of being walkable-on? It's not going to get much foot traffic - just me, until it's established, and I can almost entirely avoid walking on it anyway. My dogs have their own section now so I can keep them from it easily.

A quick additional question about the turf cutter - how much prep do I need to do in terms of roots? Mostly the lawn is open but round the edges are a lot of brambles and nettles. I've got help coming this weekend to get started on those but there will still be some small roots, and I've got plants to go round as well (non-established acanthus, 3yr planter acer, small and large apple trees, large tamerix) - should I allow a margin around those and do that bit by hand?

Thank you!

 

I wish you luck, but, the reason grass does so well as a lawn is because it is more competitive than most weeds. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of thyme. I think if you were to do a thyme lawn, you'd need to grow it in almost sterile conditions to prevent it just filling up with dandelions and coarse wild grasses and wild euphorbia and just about anything else.

If you do manage to establish it, then you'll have to deal with the fact it will grow leggy after a while. You'll need to cut it somehow to stop it growing all twiggy and horrible.

 

I have a small patch of creeping thyme (c1sqft) and it always has grass or a dandelion coming through it.
As for preparing the ground I would make sure that all weed roots were removed and both brambles and nettles will be delighted to spread into it. Weed seeds will be another problem and you might want to consider allowing them to germinate for a few weeks and then spraying with Round up or similar.
Grass has evolved to cope with being walked on and cut back (grazed) far more than almost anything else.
Another thing to bear in mind is that it will be hand weeding only.
One idea I have seen used is a chequer board of paving slabs with low growing herbs, like Chamomile, creeping thymes, creeping mints etc in the black squares. This allows foot traffic, ease of maintenance and as the herbs grow over the edges of the slabs you get the aroma as you walk through.

 

I can mow a couple of times a year, it's the frequent mowing of grass or other weeds/plants I was looking at (clover etc) that I can't cope with due to limited energy and a weak back. I was planning on mowing it once near the end of the summer (or whenever's best) to keep it compact.

I can do the germinate/roundup idea, that's fine and a good idea, thank you. Hand weeding I can do easily enough.

I've seen the chequerboard idea done and variations of it - trouble is this is a large area (around 200m2) and I am drastically limited on funds so it's a replacement lawn or it's sticking with what I've got now. No budget for slabs etc, once I've hired the turf cutter and gotten the seeds I'll have nothing left to spend.

Nettles and brambles will be dug out with help starting this weekend - that part of my post was about the turf cutter, what level of roots it can cope with so I know how much prep I have to do before I can hire it to remove the existing lawn. Once the lawn is gone, I can go in and remove any remaining roots in readiness for seeding.

 

I think you're going to create an epic amount of work for yourself. I think a thyme lawn will require vastly more maintenance effort than a grass one.

Have you considered wildflower meadow seed mixes? You can get ready mixed ones from various suppliers. Some do specific mixes to suit specific roles. I'm sure last time I looked there was one for short grasses and flowers that might give similar level of usability for much less cost and effort.

 

Hi Niki,

Have you thought about using something like Chamomile? The trouble with Thyme is that it is a woody shrub, and so after a couple it years will behave like one. Otherwise how about gravel/slate ? You can get the membrane from Poundland and B&Q do all sorts/colours of gravel or chipped slate cheap.

 

As I understand it, chamomile is no good for high traffic - this area will be low-to-no while it's established, but in the long term it needs to be able to withstand the dogs as they will have access. And me!

And as I said, I have no budget - once I've hired the turf cutter and gotten seed, I'm done. I'm not exaggerating - I will have no money left to spend no anything. In any case I want a lawn of some kind, just not the twice a week mowing of the current one. I like the look, I just need to find an alternative that I can manage.

I've looked at various mixes and I was trying to come up with my own that would stay relatively short or, stay fairly compact with some mowing (say once a month). I'll happily go down that route if it's easier, it's just finding that right mix that won't get huge if I can't mow it on time!

 

I think a turf cutter machine is a job for a strong person. If you have a bad back it's not the job for you, IMO....much much more effort than mowing. How big is the lawn area you plan on removing? I think this thyme lawn plan will only work if the area is small. In some ways it sounds like an interesting project but could end up being not the solution to your problem. Sorry to sound negative.

 

I can get help with the turf cutter as a one-off job, I can't get help with the twice weekly mowing. The area is roughly 200 square metres that needs re-doing (another patch about 2/3 of that needs removing as well but that will be kept bare for veg).

I am open to other planting options - a previous idea was to go with seeding the whole thing with microclover but it's nigh impossible to get hold of except as a small percentage of a seed mix which puts me right back at square one.

 

Who mows twice per week?! Certainly not us or anyone I know! Nothing wrong with keeping lawns on the long side. Much better for wildlife.

 

You could try re-seeding with slow growing grass seed. Scroll down on the link below to the low maintenance seed, it can be mowed as little as twice a year.

Lawn Seed For Sale - Boston Seeds

 

Easy to say if you can physically do it, RedWing - if I leave it more than 5 days at the most, it becomes long enough that it's a much harder job and puts much more pressure on my back to get it done. It grows very quickly here! So I can knacker myself a fair bit twice a week or I can knacker myself a heck of a lot leaving it longer and with the trouble I have, the latter means needing a week to rest before I can do it again. As my job is partly physical too, that isn't possible so it takes no time for it to end up longer than I can mow at all. There is no good option for me as it is now. The back part is not so bad - different species, it grows quick but not as thick - but the bulk of it becomes too much very quickly.

Sheal - thank you.

 

I'm going to buck the trend here and say 'go for it' niki. I wanted a low, evergreen groundcover over a big area too, and the thymes have been amazingly effective. Firstly, though, they were plants planted through geotextile which did suppress the annual weeds and speed up the process. I'm sure that you know how carefully you need to choose the varieties? Not sure whether you can specify species/varieties from seed? Avoid Thymus vulgaris ..these make small shrubs which do go straggly very quickly. The best ones are Thymus lanuginosus (woolly thyme) and Thymus serpyllum. I got my plants from this nursery...Thyme herb plants from the Pepperpot Nursery They were reasonably priced and very good, healthy plants. Each plant spread to at least 1m2 within a year. The woolly thyme does look a bit sad after winter but it soon regains it's leaves in Spring, rooting as it spreads. Avoid chamomile like the plague! It's just not reliably hardy or evergreen. One other option is Vinca minor. That's very quick to establish and spread.

 

Do you mind if I ask what mower you have at the moment?

 

Mountfield petrol.