Q.How much water for Creeping Thyme?
I live in Colorado and have replaced my east-facing, sun-exposed blue grass turf with creeping thyme. I do get some shade in the PM from the sun setting behind the house must mostly there is sun all day. I keep reading that creeping thyme takes “much less” water than turf but that is not helping me program a watering schedule for my sprinkler system.
My sprinkler heads are of the fixed spray variety. Historically, I watered the turf three times a week during the night for about 15 minutes. How should I adjust that for that the creeping thyme? Or if you can tell me how many inches of water I need to apply in what time frame I can work into a watering schedule.
Your new Creeping Thyme plants will need extra watering to become established.
Depending on how hot it is your new plants will need a good soaking approx once or twice a week for the first 2 to 3 weeks.
Once the plants began to root out and grow you can cut back to a good soaking every 7 to 10 days. Yellowing of the plants can indicate to much water--make adjustments.
Always check the soil moisture, poke into the ground at least 2 to 3 inches to determine the moisture level.
The developing new lawn will use less moisture as it grows and fills in.
Weather conditions can change the moisture needed--you need to adjust to the the weather.
Once established the alternate lawn is quite drought tolerant and it is best to keep the plants slightly dry.
