How to Grow and Design a Thyme Garden

Nothing is prettier than a collection of thyme growing in a designated garden that has the look of a patchwork quilt. They’ll spread quickly to form a carpet with shades of greens, pinks and white. A thyme garden is low maintenance and visually rewarding.

Soil Preparation

Thyme must have a well drained site, with plenty of sun. In the home garden it’s best to plan for your garden by taking the effort to prepare your soil. All plants grow best by incorporating sand, compost and lots of organic matter. You’ll be rewarded with fast growing, healthy plants.

Propagation Methods

Most cultivars of thyme must be propagated by cuttings, layering or divisions. There are a few which can be grown from seed.

• Cuttings: Once your plants are established, propagation by cuttings is easy. Cut a few stems, remove the bottom leaves and insert stems into a small pot filled with moist soiless medium. Keep pot in a semi shaded area. Make sure the pot doesn’t dry out. Rooting hormone isn’t necessary.
• Division: If you don’t need lots of plants, use your trowel to cut out a large plug from your spreading plant, and move it to a new location. This is best done in early spring.
• Layering: Thyme will root if stems are allowed to lay on the soil. Creeping thymes do this naturally. The tall upright varieties should have a branch pulled down to the soil and then lay a small rock on the stem. In a couple of weeks roots will emerge. Once there are enough roots, you’ll be able to cut it away from the parent plant and transplant to another location.
• Seeding: German, Winter, Summer, and Mother-of-Thyme are easy to grow from seed.

Care of Thyme

If your soil was prepared properly before you planted, you won’t have to fertilize like most perennials. Thyme aren’t heavy feeders. In the spring it’s best to feed with a good organic liquid fertilizer. Creeping thyme grows very dense, and will resent having solid fertilizer laid on top. In cold climates foliage can burn in January and February. Cover with pine boughs or straw in late December, and remove in April. You can step on thyme, but it won’t take heavy traffic. All thyme will flower, but not at the same time.

List of Popular Thyme

(This list is numbered to coincide with the image located at the bottom of this article.)

1. Magic Carpet
2. Lime
3. Orange Balsam
4. Latvin Lucy
5. Bressingham Pink
6. Minus
7. Wooley
8. Lavender
9. Caraway
10. Oregano
11. Elfin
12. Archers Gold
13. Golden Lemon
14. Doone Valley

Other pleasing creeping thymes not shown are Coconut, Mother of Thyme, Nutmeg, Creeping Red, and Pink Chintz. You can plant the taller English, French, and Silver Thyme behind or on the border of the garden. Thymus serphyllum “Mother-of-Thyme” can be seen growing wild on mountainside cliffs, and the observer will wonder how these plants could survive with such little soil. There are hundreds of species. A garden designated strictly to thyme will attract a considerable amount of attention. If your garden is located in the public eye, be prepared to meet an admiring audience.