This pretty and flavorful herb garden staple fiber can duplicate as a low - growing ground cover .
Peter Krumhardt
Thyme is n’t just an herbaceous plant to grow for adding feel to nutrient , it can also add plenty of color and texture to your garden . This tough and ruggedperennialoften forms dense mats of foliage that are topped with attractive heyday . There are also some howling low - get variety that can be establish between rocks and path , where they ’ll unloosen their delightful fragrance when brushed . Some low - grow thyme smorgasbord can be used as a lawn substitute . Many cooks institute thyme near the kitchen so they can easily snip a root word or two when cooking . Thyme also makes a good container plant life .
Credit:Peter Krumhardt
Where to Plant Thyme
Select a location in full Lord’s Day and well - drain soil that has a pH close to impersonal .
Let the type of thyme be your guide on where to plant it . For culinary thyme , choose a convenient spot near to the kitchen . decorative thyme variety show work well as an edging or border plant for perennial beds lining a patio or walkway . They are ideal for stone garden and attractively cascade down a stone wall .
Mass planting make a lovely scented groundcover that can even serve up as a lawn substitute . Take vantage of the fact that thyme heyday are a magnet forbeneficial insectsand plant thyme near yield and vegetable plants to attract honeybees and other pollinator .
Credit: Denny Schrock
How and When to Plant Thyme
flora thyme in the spring after all danger of frost has pass . When found potted greenhouse plants , dig a golf hole about twice the diam of the good deal and about the same depth . Place the works in the jam and fill in original soil to the top of the stem clod . softly tamp down the soil and pee it well . Keep it watered in the absence seizure of rain until the plant is established .
place plants 12 to 24 inch apart bet on the smorgasbord .
Thyme Care Tips
Thyme requires very footling to no maintenance .
Light
Thyme needs rich sunlight . The amount of sunlight also impact the taste — to develop thyme that is flavorful , you involve to give it at least six to eight hours offull sunper day .
Soil and Water
This tough Mediterranean herb is aboriginal to arena with jolting , poor soil and needsextremely well - drain soilto thrive because it is prone to molder in wet soil . It grow best in soil with apHbetween 6.0 and 8.0 .
Once established , thyme is a drouth - tolerant industrial plant and will not postulate much supplementary watering .
Temperature and Humidity
Thyme thrives in fond , ironical summertime weather . Many variety are also cold - hardy and can survive subzero winter temperatures . In northerly locations , the plant cash in one’s chips back to the footing with the onset of cold weather in the nightfall , then come back the next year . In very live summertime weather condition combined with utmost humidity , the plants can decline . Climates with modest and damp winter are also not good growing shape for thyme .
Fertilizer
There is no pauperism to fertilize thyme . Excess fertilizer can weaken the industrial plant and render culinary thyme rather flavorless . At the most , scatter some composts around the plant in the early leap as the new growing season first .
Pruning
Thyme becomes woody with age so it ’s demand some rejuvenate . After the bloom or in mid - summertime , trend the integral plant life back by about one - third , which advance a unexampled flush of refreshful maturation .
Potting and Repotting Thyme
Culinary thyme in picky is an splendid candidate for container - acquire because it allow you to keep it ready to hand near the kitchen . To give the plant elbow room to expand , choose a large container of at least one gallon and make indisputable it has large drain holes . meet it with well - enfeeble potting mix and implant the thyme in the lot so that the source clump is above the soil line , not below . Keep in judgment that , unlike thyme in the garden , a potted plant needs even tearing . Also , although many thyme varieties are winter - hardy in cold clime , container unwrap the plant ’s roots to the frigidity . This can damage or kill the flora . Always leave the container outdoors year - round but winterize the throne by sinking it into the ground or by commit in it in a second , with child pot to create a planting silo to protect the roots from the frigidness .
If your potted thyme still seem good after a year or two when it has outgrown its current tummy , repot it to a tumid tummy with fresh potting mixture . Oftentimes , however , thyme becomes woody after a couple of season and it wee more gumption to begin with a fresh plant life .
Pests and Problems
Thyme is not normally affected by serious pests and disease . Occasionally you might regain aphid or wanderer mites on the plants . In cockeyed soil , the plants can get base rot .
How to Propagate Thyme
Propagating thyme from seed is often unsuccessful because of deadening sprouting and low germination rates . divide existing plantsor layering is a proficient option . In the outflow , just as the fresh growth starts , dig up the total plant and carve up it into little sections . Make trusted each discussion section has a good amount of root attach to it . Plant the section at the same profoundness as the original works and keep them well - watered until they are prove .
To propagate thyme by layering , select a few stems long enough to well bend down to the ground . Remove the leaves and entirely address the stems with dirt . Gently tamp down down the ground and water it thinly . Keep it evenly moist . When you see Modern emergence emerging from the bent on stems , carefully polish off the soil in a distich of spots to see if roots have formed . If there is a good amount of roots along the stem , discerp the stem from the female parent plant with acute lopper . Transplant it into a pot or to a new location in the garden .
Harvesting
The proficient fourth dimension toharvest thymeis in the morning , just after the dew has dried . When using thyme in dishes , it is best to use only the leaves because the stems are generally woody and tough .
If you are be after ondrying thyme for use in winter calendar month , it is best to cut and give ear the theme upside down in small bunches . Let thyme dry full in a coolheaded , dry , and well - ventilate sphere . Then stack away it in an airtight container in a dark , nerveless space .
Types of Thyme
Mother of Thyme
Thymus praecox , love as female parent of thyme , creeping thyme , or wooly-minded thyme , is a low - grow creeping thyme that resemble wooly thyme with greener foliage . It grows 2 - 3 in magniloquent and 8 - 12 inches wide . It require full sunshine and first-class drain to perform well in the garden . There are several cultivars , including ‘ Bressingham ’ ( shown here ) which is covered with hot pink blooms in recent spring that geezerhood to soft pink . Zones 4 - 9 .
‘Elfin’ Thyme
This miniature thyme is a cultivar of Thymusserpyllum , commonly called wild thyme . It forms a blind drunk matte of all right foliage that tolerate casual foot dealings , make it a perfect answer for planting between flag . It grows just 1 - 2 inch marvellous and gradually spreads to 8 - 12 in wide of the mark . Lilac - purple flower are produce in early summertime . Zones 4 - 9 .
English Thyme
Thymus vulgaris , also known as Gallic thyme , garden thyme , or vulgar thyme , is the classic culinary thyme . It has an upright , bushy growth drug abuse and reaches 12 to 18 inch in height .
Varigated Lemon Thyme
Thymusxcitriodorus’Variegata ' is a beautiful edible ornamental . The lemon - scented foliation is versatile in the kitchen and the plant itself makes a striking earth covering for sunny billet . When mature , the plants can grow 16 inches tall and encompassing . Zones 5 - 9 .
Gold Lemon Thyme
Golden - edged , lemony - flavored leaf serve up bluff flavor forThymusxcitriodorus’Aureus ' . The flora has a mounding , shaggy-haired growth habit and grow about 12 inches magniloquent .
‘Spicy Orange’ Thyme
This low - growing cultivar ofThymus x citriodorusis tough enough to withstand base dealings . The needle - like leafage is redolent with a lightsome orangeness scent and flavor . It has pink flower in summertime and mature 12 inches tall and broad . zone 5 - 9 .
Garden Plans for Thyme
Classic Herb Garden Plan
Ensure your kitchen is always stock with fresh herbs with thisclassic herb garden plan , where ten kinds of hers surround a ornamental sundial in a 6 - foot - diameter bed .
Colorful Herb Garden Plan
Get an herb garden that dazzle with thiscolorful plan , where a 3x8 - substructure border features foliage with purplish , green , and fortunate chromaticity — including variegate leaves .
Frequently Asked Questions
Thyme embed in garden soil has a life-time of 4 to 6 age . With age , the plant stick woody and even though you may counter this declension somewhat by pruning , at some point the plant will become unsightly .
Yes , thyme can begrown indoors yr - round . Plenty of sunlight is key to successfully develop it as a houseplant . Place the potted thyme in a south- or west - present window where it gets at least six hour of sunshine every daytime .
update by Nadia Hassani
Credit: Denny Schrock
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
Credit: Jay Wilde
Credit: Gary Palmer
Credit: Gary Palmer
