Creeping Thyme
Thymus serpyllum
Spreads into a low, dense mat and thrives on neglect — winter wet is the one thing that finishes it.
- Type
- Herb · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Foliage color
- Green · Silver and gray
- Flower color
- Purple and violet
- Sunlight
- Full sun, six hours a day or more.
- Watering
- Very drought-tolerant; overwatering is the real danger.
- Feeding
- None needed; lean soil is ideal.
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- June
- Pruning
- Shear it lightly after flowering, keeping off the old wood.
- Mar–Jun Bud Break
- Jun–Nov Flowering
- Nov–Dec Senescence
- Jan–Mar Senescence
- Plant spacing
- 9.8 in
- In-row spacing
- 9.8 in
- Between rows
- 11.8 in
- Square-foot density
- 1 per square
- Root system
- Fine and fibrous, close to the surface
- Working depth
- 6–12 in
- Can reach
- 18 in down where the soil allows
- Spread
- 18 in–2 ft across, about 1–1.5× the width of the plant
- Shallowest pot
- 8 in of soil
The whole root system sits in the top hand-span of soil, so this is the first thing in the bed to feel a dry week and the last thing that should meet a fork. Hoe shallowly around it, and mulch instead of digging.
The habit is Creeping Thyme’s own; the figures are what that habit usually comes to at this size, not a measurement of this species. Roots follow the soil either way: a compacted pan, a high water table or heavy clay stops them well short of any of it, and deep open ground lets them go further.
- Generally trouble-free No notable pest or disease problems when grown in the right conditions — one of the easy ones.
Lavender, Sedum, Dianthus, Rosemary
Green-leaved herbs with purple and violet flowers, like this one.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com