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I have tried several times (no pun intended) to get creeping thyme to take off in various places of my landscaping but it just doesn't seem to want to work in Georgia. Is it too hot here? Would someone please let me know what I'm doing wrong. Should I stop wasting my time?
Where have you tried? What are conditions like -- sun, water, drainage, soil? Are you direct sowing seeds, planting small plugs, or putting in larger divisions? It's hard to tell you what (if anything) you're doing "wrong" unless I know more about what you're doing. :-) I don't think it's the heat, as it's not much cooler or less humid here in MD, and thymes do well for me.
I've had better luck getting larger divisions established than small plugs, and that's one reason I propagate a larger container full of thyme and then divide it into chunks like that for planting out... If I plant out a piece with roots that would fill a 4 inch pot, it generally "takes."
The moisture crystals I mentioned are also a huge help in getting thyme established, IMO.
I guess more information would help. Sorry. I planted about 20 4" pots that were well established and healthy looking when I purchased them. They are in a partially shaded area with poor, clay like soil. After reading the article I'm thinking that the problem is that the drainage is poor. The soil tends to pack down too easily and becomes very hard in just a couple of days. I use my hoe to aerate and I water frequently but the plants are shriveling up. I hesitate to put them in full sun because it just seems like it's too hot for them. Also, I am trying to create a thick carpet of thyme in this area so as to diminish weeding. Are some thyme plants better for this than others? Thanks so much for your previously prompt answer. I'll take whatever advice you can give me.
To answer your last question first, most of the low growing thymes seem to form fairly thick carpets, but you'll still have to pull out occasional sprigs of grass, oxalis, etc... less and less weeding is required around my patio as the thyme thickens, however. The taller (4-5 inch) english type thyme that I grew from seed pretty much outcompetes everything and hardly ever gets a weed -- maybe its extra height means weed sprouts are shaded out and don't get a chance to grow?
Poor drainage and packed soil will definitely kill thyme. Although it may be a little hotter where you are than here in MD, I still wouldn't hesitate to try a few plants in full sun. Thyme doesn't need very much depth of good soil... Can you just put a couple inches of sandy topsoil or even soil-less potting mix in the area where you're planting? I'd say dig out the clay, but actually raising your planting area slightly will also improve drainage. If you add polymer moisture crystals (only the small amount recommended on the package -- more will just make a mess when it rains), then I think you'll really have a good shot of getting it established.
Another thing that can help make herbs happy is top-dressing the soil with a "mulch" of sand or pea gravel. Especially in humid areas, this helps reflect heat/light up into the foliage to keep it dry (which herbs like) while keeping the roots moist (herbs like moisture, but they hate wet feet... so a sand mulch is great as long as drainage is excellent).
My other bit of advice is to rescue a couple of your plants and pot them up in containers for propagation so you'll have additional chunks of thyme to plant out later -- either as replacements or simply to expand your planting area if you wish.
