The discerning chef can add a number of different flavors to family meals with the use of herbs. However, many herbs such as lemon thyme can also be used medicinally. Lemon thyme is an antiseptic and contains antioxidants. It can be used as a refreshing tea and regular usage of raw leaves has been claimed to extend life. The leaves are lemon-scented so are useful for adding to pot-pourri or making herbal pillows. They can also be shredded and cooked like cabbage or added to salads.
In addition, lemon thyme is a good groundcover in the garden. It is easy to grow and the attractive flowers provide nectar for butterflies, moths and honeybees. It is a low-growing bush of around 30 cm high and likes a light to medium soil and dry conditions, making it perfect for gardens in dry climates or gardeners who are trying to save water. Lemon thyme is a perennial and its pink flowers make an attractive addition to the garden.
If growing lemon thyme from seed, sow them into a cold frame in early spring. If grown in a greenhouse the seed can be started in the autumn. The seeds of lemon thyme are rather erratic in germination so some gardeners prefer to buy the herb as seedlings. But if grown by seed the young plants should be left until big enough to handle before transferring to a larger pot and kept in the greenhouse until the following spring. The mature plants are frost hardy down to -15C. In climates that experience mild winters lemon thyme seedlings can be planted out as soon as they are big enough to handle.
Remember that lemon thyme prefers acidic to neutral soil and dry conditions. Once transplanted into the garden a handful of pebbles around each plant will help protect the foliage from wet soil during wet conditions. If the leaves are to be used for eating, they need to be kept as clean as possible.
Lemon thyme can be propagated by cutting. Take a cutting from a young shoot, but ensure that it has a heel – that is, a sliver of wood and bark from where it joins a larger branch. This should be done in May or June and the 5-8 cm cutting placed in a cold frame.
If cuttings are taken later in July and August they should be from half-ripe wood and placed in a cold frame.
Layering is simply bending a supple stem down so that it can be planted in the soil while still attached to the parent plant. A small slanting cut should be made near a node and the stem buried and kept down by fixing a U-shaped piece of wire over it. Keep the soil moist but not wet and check every so often to see that roots are forming. When there are good roots, the stem may be cut from the parent and planted elsewhere.
Lemon thyme is a good ground cover and will help to suppress other weeds with its low, dense growth. It is also a great plant for companion planting. It has a positive affect on many other plants surrounding it, so can be planted out anywhere in the vegetable or herb garden. However, if cultivation of the garden is intended, it would be best planted to the side where it need not be disturbed.
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