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marya13

Creeping thyme for 'hell strip'?

marya13
12 years ago

We have an old house with a shallow front yard containing a newly-installed perennial garden. The "hell strip" between the sidewalk and the street is only about 18" wide. Last fall I put in grass seed, which took--but then during the snowy winter some trucks drove with one wheel over the strip. Now it's about half grass and half bare ruts; time to start over.

I was wondering about trying to fill it with creeping thyme (*Thymus serpyllum*) this time. Is it as durable as grass? Does it go fully dormant in winter? What does it look like in late fall/early spring?

What I want is something inconspicuous that won't compete visually with the garden but that won't allow weeds or mud. The strip is in full sun, and there is sometimes road salt. Cars do park along the strip although people don't usually walk on it (there are frequent paved access points to the sidewalk, and the strip is narrow enough to step over). Oh, there are also a lot of dogs walked in the neighborhood. All told, the strip is... kind of hellish.

Advice appreciated. Thank you!

Comments (6)

  • bill_ri_z6b
    12 years ago

    Sounds like quite a problem area! Have you considered just paving the strip to eliminate the problem? If you want to soften it, maybe flagstone or cobbles with some spaces between for the thyme (or whatever you decide on). I don't know of any plant that would thrive and look good under the conditions you describe. I had "Snow-in-summer" (Cerastium tomentosum) near the sidewalk, and it's pretty tough, but even that might be challenged in your situation. It has nice white blooms in late spring/early summer, and some repeat. It's evergreen and forms a pretty dense mat. It could use a light shearing after flowering to clean it up a bit. It might draw attention from your garden however. Maybe if you Google it you can take a look.

    Hope you find a solution.

  • diggingthedirt
    12 years ago

    I've got a lot of common thyme, and at least here on the cape some of it seems almost evergreen - most of it has certainly leafed out already and it stays green most of the winter. A few areas are brown and sort of naked looking at this point - not sure why it's so variable, except that it was grown from seed and there were several different varieties to begin with.

    Also, I'm not sure if it would keep weeds/grass out; actually my lawn has a fair amount of thyme in it and the two plants seem to coexist fairly well. I don't know how it would take to salt or truck tires; probably about as well as grass does.

    I guess one disadvantage might be that it can pop up in the lawn. I don't mind that, myself, but some people prefer just grass in a lawn.

  • runktrun
    12 years ago

    Mary,
    I think NHbabs first shared this link to a blog that posted multiple photos of hellstrips in Buffalo NY. My favorite one on Manchester Place used thyme as well as other creeping plants. The blog author was going to inquire about how well it held up to snow/salt, you might post and ask for an update.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of hellstrips in Buffalo

  • diggingthedirt
    12 years ago

    Great photos, Katy. Really good ideas there, too. I like the way many people incorporated local rocks; the best were ones where these were used to provide a place for foot traffic to cut through the hellstrip.

    I did have a laugh when I read "The effect of a neighborhood embracing their hellstrips cannot be understated" (I think he meant overstated). It certainly is true that the effect is magnified when a long row of houses (or a whole street) include the street-side area in the garden.

  • bill_ri_z6b
    12 years ago

    Katy,
    Those are some nice photos, and good looking strips. But of course many, if not most, are obviously replanted every year with annuals and what appear to be tender perennials, probably in pots. All of which look great of course. But I got the feeling from Mary's original post that she wanted something that would sit out year round and still look reasonably attractive, while still allowing cars to park on it. So those mounds of rocks, as attractive as they are, may not be an option. But there were so many great ideas there. I may steal some for my sidewalk!

  • marya13
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks, everyone! To clarify, I didn't mean that anyone parks ON the strip, just next to it. Normally nobody drives on it, either--it's just that our street got so narrow with all the piles of snow that a few trucks did last winter.

    I may try patches of thyme at either end, and if it does well I'll dig up more grass.

    Much appreciated! That name, "hell strip," certainly is appropriate....