Woolly thyme
Thymus pseudolanuginosus · Lamiaceae
A flat, soft, grey, woolly mat that hugs the ground and flows over stones. It has few flowers, and is grown for its texture.
- Size
- 2 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves; flowers mid June to early July
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around woolly thyme
The planner designed this bed around woolly thyme when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why woolly thyme stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Woolly thyme × 10, grey-green leaves
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 11, pink
- 3 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 5 Blue oat grass × 1, tan
- 6 Wild lupine × 8, blue
- 7 Schubert's allium × 2, pink
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 2 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 70% of the edge.
- 10 plants in 3 runs (5, 3 and 2). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 19 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 8 groups (88%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 48 to 52, left to right. Cool colours (pink and blue) with yellow as the warm note, and tan to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where woolly thyme goes in a border
At 2 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
A grey carpet that follows every contour of the ground. It needs sharp drainage and resents humidity; in wet climates grow it on a slope or in gravel.
- Between paving stones
- Carpeting gravel and rock gardens
- Soft grey groundcover
What to plant with woolly thyme
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Hens and chicks: tall enough (4 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Sedum 'Dragon's Blood': adds the flowers, late June to early August; tall enough (4 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Blue fescue: tall enough (10 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about woolly thyme
Does woolly thyme need sun or shade?
Woolly thyme grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does woolly thyme grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should woolly thyme be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2 in (5 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many woolly thyme plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used 10 in three groups.
Is woolly thyme poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat woolly thyme?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does woolly thyme look like in winter?
Woolly thyme keeps its grey-green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is woolly thyme good for bees and butterflies?
Woolly thyme is visited by bees and butterflies.
More Thymus
- Common thyme Thymus vulgaris
- Creeping thyme Thymus serpyllum
- Lemon thyme Thymus x citriodorus
- Red creeping thyme Thymus praecox 'Coccineus'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 2 in (5 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid June to early July; dense clusters; pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; grey-green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Comes from
- Southern Europe
- Attracts
- Bees, butterflies
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought, pollution, foot traffic
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.