Timing is Everything: When to Plant Creeping Thyme?

A Creeping Thyme plant is an excellent summer garden guard as it can prevent deer and other nocturnal herbivores from devouring your precious plants.

However, if you plant the Creeping Thyme in the mid-summer, it will be tough for the small seedlings to settle in higher temperatures.

So, read this entire article if you want to cover your lawn’s ground with Creeping Thyme’s colorful natural carpet without fail.

Where do you Plant Creeping Thyme?

Creeping Thyme is the perennial, woody shrub that thrives best in stony, rugged soil in Mediterranean climates.

Generally, Creeping Thyme takes 75-90 days for this hardy plant to mature under more than 6 hours of full sun and 65-75°F temperature. 

However, they can also tolerate some afternoon shade and blesses your garden with pink, purple, or red blooms from June to September.

Although Creeping Thyme isn’t invasive, it spreads quickly on your lawn. However, the growth is slow in the first year, and the plant needs a year to spread up.

Not only the lawn, this incredible plant can also beautifully thrive in hanging baskets, pots and balcony gardens.

When to Plant Creeping Thyme?

This mother Thyme grows easily in well-drained soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7.5. But never plant them outdoors before the last frost. 

Meanwhile, start the Creeping Thyme seeds indoors in late fall and transplant the plugs after the last frost when the soil warms up if you are from a colder zone.

To fill your lawn with Creeping Thyme ground cover, directly sow the seeds outdoors and moisten the soil until germination.

During the growing season, balanced slow-release fertilizer will enhance the growth. But, it’s better to amend the soil with organic compost before sowing the seeds.

Creeping Thyme thrives best in USDA zones 4-9. As these plants come in a variety of colors based on species, their hardiness zones also differ from each other.