These include larger versions of the four pictures at the top of this page.Thymes need to grow in full sun. They will not grow satisfactorily if they only have sun for much less than half the day in mid summer. There are other herbs which will grow in these conditions, for example Satureja are quite happy in dappled semi-shade! Thymes require well drained soil in the garden with added gravel. A top dressing of gravel will improve the drainage as they resent winter wetness at ground level. In my experience winter wet around their necks will kill more thymes than the cold weather. They should be pruned as soon as possible after flowering. This will keep them compact, encourage new growth from the centre and prevent them from becoming straggly. As far as feeding is concerned, a spring dressing with one of the pelleted chicken manures is all they require.
Thyme can be grown in thyme beds where they will give the impression of a magnificent patchwork quilt of many colours. It is advisable to plant only the low growing and mat forming thymes together in thyme beds as the larger more vigorous thymes tend to smother them. The bushy thymes are best planted in thyme beds dedicated to these larger varieties where they can have more space to grow. Suitability for use is indicated for each thyme listed in Plant Portraits.
| One of the Central Thyme Beds planted with bushy thymes. |
Thyme can be grown as a path edging, in spaces within a path so that one steps over each plant when walking along the path, or in spaces within a paved area. Less vigorous low growing thymes can be grown in large pieces of tufa. As far as the so-called thyme lawn is concerned, this is definitely not advisable. Thyme resents being walked on and the plants will die, so please do not try this at home, whatever one may read in books and magazines or see on television! However if paths or stepping stones are incorporated into the garden design one can then walk through the thyme without damaging it. Brushing against the plants will release the fragrance from the leaves and this will only have the effect of light pruning. If one really wants to have a fragrant lawn on which to walk, a camomile lawn is ideal. Besides smelling fragrant when walked on, it actually likes it, as this helps to keep it flat! My camomile lawn was featured in Spring in the Garden by Steven Bradley. Camomile 'Treneague' is a non-flowering variety and is planted as bare-rooted slips and can be obtained from specialist nurseries. In a paved area in a small garden it can replace two or three paving slabs; not only is it more practical than a grass lawn, it is much nicer.
| Central Thyme Beds with pathway planted with thymes, leading to the decorative stone circle. In the background is part of the Long Border. |
Central Thyme Beds with Thymus 'Desboro' and Allium scorodoprasum subsp. jajlae on the right. In the background is the camomile lawn. |
| Thymus 'Caborn Pink Carpet' growing on a large piece of tufa. |
Bushy thymes should be cut back to the first shoot below the dead flower head, not just the flower head. As bushy plants get older and become very woody the old outer stems should also be removed completely. This encourages new growth from the centre.
Mat growing thymes should also be pruned to the first shoot after flowering. In addition it is advisable to cut around the outer edge of each plant to encourage new growth from the centre and to stop the plants growing into each other. A general guideline is to allow each plant to grow to about 12 inches diameter (30 cm) and maintain this size by pruning. Most creeping thymes will develop a 'thatch' of dead stems within the plant after a couple of years. This needs to be removed to prevent the plant becoming choked and eventually dying. The plant can be very gently folded back on itself and the 'thatch' cut off from the under-surface of the mat. In the autumn and winter it is a relatively easy task just to pull out all these dead stems.
| Thymus thracicus showing 'thatch' on under-surface. |
Cutting off dead stems from the under-surface of Thymus thracicus. |
In the spring it may be necessary to cut out any stems which have died during the winter. Inevitably there will be some die-back on some of the thymes during the winter and this should be removed to tidy up the plants before flowering.
| Thymus 'Caborn Lilac Gem' showing dead stems. | Thymus 'Caborn Lilac Gem' following pruning. |
In the summer of 2003 when the weather was exceptionally hot and dry I had
problems with some of my thymes drying out and a couple of plants died.
Drastic action was required to prevent more losses.
When one has a gravel mulch the usual amount to use is about half an inch (12 mm) of gravel.
I therefore decided to increase this mulch to virtually 2 inches (50 mm), basically gravel
bed conditions.
This has been even more successful than originally envisaged. The thick layer of gravel not only stops the soil from drying
out and therefore prevents the thymes from dying, but there is also an added bonus.
During the winter of 2003-4 I found that all the thymes were much healthier with less
die-back and
they started their spring regrowth more quickly.
They also grew very well in the summer of 2004 when there was a lot of rain, which just drained straight
through the gravel to the roots rather than sit around on the surface.
Normally when thymes drop their dead leaves on to the ground they just lie there looking untidy.
However with this deep gravel mulch they can very easily be brushed straight into the gravel
where they will eventually break down into compost as happens with thymes in the wild.
My advice is that a deep gravel mulch is the preferred way of growing thymes,
both to prevent their drying out in a dry hot summer and to prevent excess water
remaining around their necks in winter.
I now feel that with this gravel bed regime it should be possible to grow thyme in clay soils,
with the addition of extra gravel dug into the soil, unless of course the ground is so water
logged in winter that it is practically swamp conditions!
As far as suitable mulching material is concerned, I use pea gravel in a pleasant mix of colours. Personal taste and local availability should be the guiding factor in choice. For example, in a limestone area limestone chippings would be eminently suitable, or slate chippings where slate is the local rock.
Thyme growing in the wild is accustomed to rooting into the surface mulch made up of composted leaves on the soil or rock where the plants grow. This is also the type of soil into which generally the seeds are scattered and in which they germinate. For optimum results, seeds and cuttings should be started in a non-soil type of compost, which replicates the type of soil they are used to in the wild. Personally I use a commercial non-peat compost, made up primarily of composted bark. I find this very satisfactory and in fact it gives better results than the peat based compost I used to use.
Seed should be sown either in a seed tray, or a large tray made up of separate modules. The seed should be sown directly onto the surface of the compost and does not need to be covered. The trays can be covered with a propagator lid to prevent drying out, placed on wet capillary matting and protected from full sun. Do not water from above. Once the seed has germinated the cover should be removed. Recently a method to keep the stems of seedlings short and prevent them from bolting has been discovered. Each day gently brush one's outstretched hand across the seedlings. This has been found to produce strong, shorter stemmed plants. Once the seedlings are large enough they can be potted on into 60 mm square pots using the same non-soil compost. It is wise to top dress the soil with a thin layer of gravel to prevent the soil from drying out. Once the plants have a good root system, filling the compost in the pots, they can be planted out in their final positions in full sun and with a 50 mm deep gravel mulch, or in terracotta pots.
The best time to take cuttings is mid to late summer following flowering. With cuttings taken in early summer, there is the risk that they will flower before the roots are sufficiently developed to support flowers. However, following flowering, thyme puts on a lot of new growth. It is therefore an ideal time to take cuttings when pruning the dead flower stems.
In creeping thyme, tiny roots often develop from the leaf nodes and these are ideal. Young, but not too soft plant material gives best results. Ideally cuttings should be 50-60 mm long, avoiding any stems with flower buds, either a single stem or 3 or 4 stems, depending on the size of the parent plant and personal preference. With bushy thymes, firm stems should be used, soft stems are liable to rot before rooting takes place and woody stems are unlikely to produce roots. It is advisable to remove the lower leaves from bushy cuttings, but it is not necessary with creeping thyme. They should be rooted in the same non-soil compost as for seed sowing. I prefer to use trays made up of separate modules for taking cuttings. Simply fill the modules and then use a small dibber to insert the cuttings. There is no need to use rooting hormone. Place the trays on wet capillary matting and cover with a sheet of woven shading material and keep out of full sun. It is not necessary to use a propagator lid and after a few days the shading material can be removed. Once the cuttings are well rooted, they can be potted on into 60 mm square pots of the same non-soil compost and covered with a thin layer of fine grit. Once a good root system has been formed, they can be planted out into their final positions in the soil and mulched in the same way as the seed raised plants.
In my experience thymes are disease free. As far as pests are concerned slugs and snails have a liking for Thymus pulegioides and its cultivars. Generally they just tend to 'graze' the plants and with most varieties do very little damage. However if I am preparing thymes for a show they can be a problem as I end up with a plant covered in half eaten leaves! Slugs and snails are particularly fond of Thymus 'Ruby Glow' and to a lesser extent Thymus 'Pink Ripple', both of which have Thymus pulegioides in their parentage and they can do a lot of damage. It is therefore advisable to grow Thymus 'Ruby Glow' in pots so that the plants can be moved around the garden if necessary or given barrier protection such as a copper ring around the pot. Nightly slug and snail patrols and the encouragement of predatory wildlife such as frogs, hedgehogs, blackbirds and thrushes is recommended.
The main pest which affects thyme is Pyrausta aurata, a tortrix moth which feeds on labiates. This moth can wreck havoc in a large collection of thymes and it is essential to check plants regularly, especially when thymes are grown in pots and are under cover during the winter months. The moth is approximately half an inch (12 mm) in wing span, brown with orangey yellow markings. The olive green coloured larvae feed on the young leaves at the ends of the stems. They are easily detected because they spin a protective web within the leaves at the end of the stem. They can be squashed between finger and thumb or cut in two when detected. All moths should be also be squashed when seen. Vigilance and mechanical means are all that is needed to protect thymes from this pest. There is absolutely no need to resort to the use of chemicals.
| Pyrausta aurata (sitting on a kitchen cupboard door) and squashed after picture was taken! |
Personally my advice would be to avoid the large pots of thyme available from garden centres and some nurseries. Although they look good at first they will have been planted in non-soil compost which is not suitable and will invariably lead to problems. Non-soil composts tend to dry out easily and then become difficult to re-wet. As thyme needs to be grown in well drained soil, inevitably plants grown like this will become too dry and eventually will die. Although thyme cuttings need to be started in non-soil compost, ideally they should only be potted on into a maximum 6 cm square pot. This technique enables a good root system to develop prior to being planted in soil. This size is also suitable for planting between paving slabs once the soil and roots have been gently flattened sufficiently to fit the space! All my thymes are sold in this size of pot, ready to be planted. For thyme to grow really well it needs to be grown 'hard' and these smaller plants will soon become established in their permanent growing positions.
For pictures click the camera symbol.
These include larger versions of the four pictures at the top of this page.
Page modified: June 2005