The Woolly Thyme, otherwise known as the Thymus Pseudolanuginosus or Creeping Thyme, Wild Thyme, Coconut Thyme, Thymus drucei, Thymus polytrichus subsp. britannicus ‘Coconut’, Thymus praecox subsp. arcticus, Thymus woolly, is a rather well known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and slow growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Woolly Thyme Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
In order to take proper care of your Woolly Thyme you’ll need to keep in mind the following guidelines:
- Water: The Woolly Thyme prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
- Light: Keep your Thymus Pseudolanuginosus in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Woolly Thyme in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, chalk, and loam.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Woolly Thyme will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Woolly Thyme belongs to the Lamiaceae family, the genus Thymus and the species Pseudolanuginosus, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Thymus Pseudolanuginosus.
As with other Thymus’s, the Woolly Thyme is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Woolly ThymeSouthern Europe.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend to always keep in mind your plants’ native region and environment, since these are the conditions that your Woolly Thyme is most accustomed to, thus where it can most favorably.
With this in mind, the Thymus Pseudolanuginosus will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 5b, 5a, 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, A2, A3.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Woolly Thyme is a relatively slow grower, which makes things easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Woolly Thyme? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Thymus Pseudolanuginosus can grow up to 2″ – 3″ (5cm – 7cm) in 2″ – 3″ (5cm – 7cm) and 10″ – 1′ (25cm – 30cm) in 10″ – 1′ (25cm – 30cm).
These dimensions make the Woolly Thyme a relatively medium shrub compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 12″ (30cm) free so the Woolly Thyme can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Woolly Thyme is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Thymus Pseudolanuginosus prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Woolly Thyme in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, occasionally dry, and very dry properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Woolly Thyme then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Woolly Thyme needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Woolly Thyme prefers to have soil with good drainage, occasionally dry, and very dry properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, chalk, and loam.
This is why most experts agree that the Woolly Thyme requires soil with loam (silt), sand, and shallow rocky, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably neutral to alkaline soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Woolly Thyme requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this shrub will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Thymus Pseudolanuginosus in full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Woolly Thyme will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Woolly Thyme to flower around the summer months from July to September (summer).
In particular, this shrub is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Woolly Thyme produces some beautiful pink, or pink flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Woolly Thyme have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Thymus Pseudolanuginosus to be around (< 1 inch) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Woolly Thyme is well known for being able to attract butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for rocky soil, dry soil, drought and animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Thymus Pseudolanuginosus will be fine.
Garden
Does your Woolly Thyme have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Thymus Pseudolanuginosus owners agree that this shrub will look great in most mediterranean, cottage and rustic gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage, city and courtyard, gravel and rock garden, and in mediterranean garden styles.
In particular, the Woolly Thyme’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, and in ground covers, others use it for landscaping in a firescaping/fire wise, border, kitchen garden, container, ground cover, or a rock garden.
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Woolly Thyme in your garden or home.
