In the back, Pink Heretus Thyme is also in full bloom. The taller flowering Caraway Thyme is in the foreground to the right of the Woolly Thyme. It flows into the silvery, non-flowering Woolly Thyme near the boundary board which separates this garden from the lawn. Pink Lemonade Thyme is the bright green thyme that has the shadow of the tree on it. These five ground cover thymes of varying colors, textures and heights are growing in a pleasing mosaic. Once established, ground cover thymes also help to keep weed seeds from sprouting. Learn more by emailing your questions to reading past columns at or my book, Just Ask Jerry.Ground Cover Thymes are not only beautiful and soft to walk on, they are also the perfect way to keep the ground cool and conserve moisture.

If it were me, I would be certain to clean up and dispose of any potatoes or tomatoes left on or in the ground.Įvery week, Growing Things Outdoors runs online at or, if you prefer an epaper format,. Therefore, overwintering of late blight in this region is mostly restricted to infested stored seed potatoes.” and it was a good idea to those those rotten tomatoes in the garbage rather than on a compost pile where they could infect other backyard crops.Īccording to the Government of Alberta’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, “The late blight pathogen rarely survives overwintering, as it will only survive for a few days without living tissues. Is there anything we can use to get rid of the virus in the dirt? And is it ok to plant other vegetables next spring in the same area of the garden? Please advise as this is all new to me.Ī The fungus can only survive from season to season on lightly infected potatoes that are either left underground (frost free) or stored indoors. Two weeks ago we cut all the tops off and tossed them into the garbage. Q My tomato plants developed a bad case of blight so we got rid of them to the garbage fairly early. Make the barrier in a dome shape so the rabbits can’t access the plant from any angle. An easy-to-build barrier can be constructed from chicken wire. For smaller plants or shrubs, you might consider erecting a barrier to keep the rabbits away. These wraps can be found in local garden centres and are simply a coiled, plastic sheet that can be wrapped around trees trunks to protect them. What can I do to prepare these plants for winter to discourage the rabbits from eating them?Ī Using a tree wrap for small trees is a good idea. Q I have a problem with rabbits in the winter chewing small, new plants and bushes. I wish I had a more encouraging answer but I’m afraid I don’t. Is there anything I can do to discourage this growth prior to putting in grass?Ī Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do to rid yourself of the suckers without damaging the parent tree itself. In working the soil, I am often pulling out suckers and thin roots, ostensibly from the poplar tree on city-owned property across the street. Q We dug up our front lawn a couple of years ago and have since been planting potatoes in anticipation of a new lawn which we hope to put in next spring. For your application, these plants will look great as they cascade down the stones. They will grow in full sun, partial shade and even full shade although they will not bloom as well in full shade and they tend to get a little more spindly. These plants will grow five- to 10-cm tall and will spread 60 cm or more, if allowed to grow.

The flowers come in lavender, red, rose and white. The bonus is, that these plants bloom profusely from spring to early summer. This lovely little plant is very low maintenance and one of the few that can tolerate being walked on. Can you suggest a low-maintenance ground cover that will work there in between the stones?Ī One of my favourite ground covers is creeping thyme. The walls over the walkout have been sloped in such a manner that we are hoping my wife will be able to embed stones into it. Q We recently built a cabin with a walkout basement.

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Red creeping thyme ground cover