Is Thyme deer resistant?
Thymus sp.
Plant typePerennialHardinessZones 4–9, genus rangeLightFull sun
MaintenanceLow, mostly leave it alone
About Thyme
Tough enough to walk on in the creeping forms, and reliably ignored by deer. It needs poor gritty soil and full sun, and rots in winter wet more often than it freezes.
Soil and care
- Soil pH
- 6 to 8
- Drainage
- Sharp, gritty. Will rot in wet soil
- Water
- Low
- Spacing
- 10 to 14 in apart
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Maintenance
- Low
Similar to Thyme
Other perennials with the same deer rating.
- Anise HyssopAgastache sp.Zones 4–9, genus rangeRarely damaged
- Basket of GoldAurinia saxatilisZones 3–7Rarely damaged
- Bearded IrisIris germanicaZones 3–9Rarely damaged
- Bigleaf GoldenrayLigularia dentataZones 4–8Rarely damaged
- Bleeding HeartLamprocapnos spectabilisZones 3–9Rarely damaged
- Butter and EggsLinaria vulgarisZones 3–9Rarely damaged
Where Thyme grows
Hardy across most of these 51 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texas
- Colorado
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
Browse from here
Every list Thyme belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Thyme
- Is Thyme deer resistant?
- Thyme (Thymus sp.) is rated Rarely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Deer almost always leave this alone.
- What hardiness zones does Thyme grow in?
- Thyme is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat. That is the range across the genus, so a named species or cultivar may be narrower.
- Does Thyme grow in shade?
- No. Thyme wants full sun and will grow thin and flop in shade.