Growing thyme

could anyone suggest the best way to grow this herb? this year i have treated it as a pot herb in the greenhouse, with no joy i must say. the seedlings that did come through i pricked out and planted in the garden (that was only 2 or 3 from a whole packet of seed) which are doing well, but alas doesnt make a thyme patch. i bought a second packet of seed and sowed them directly into the garden in a small area in mid may, of these, the few that seem to have germinated have stopped growing over the last 2 weeks.


any advice would be gratefully received as we love thyme in the stuffing of our xmas turkey

 

I have a lovely pot of thyme this year for the first time, :yess: think about where you see it growing ,hot dry countries.

I have mine in a hot spot in a pot where it gets baked and keep it on the dry side ,only water when it looks droopy. :WINK1:

 

thanks Pamsdish for the advice, i water the thyme as i water the other herbs in the same patch. dill, sage, oregano, basil and parsley. luckily the thyme is right at the end so it will be easy to cut the watering short.
....i will give it a go.... and let you know.

 

I was out looking at thyme on snowdon last week very pretty =]

 

Hi

I got a small pot of thyme and planted it in the garden in full sun, i never water it, so if it doesn't rain, it will get quite dry. I trebled in size in one year and is now in full flower, so obviously likes alot of neglect! It seemed to love being covered in snow.

 

Hello Herbi and welcome to GC.

I grew Thyme in Bucks in the UK ... just in a rockery which was Southern facing and I had it for years. I trimmed it back every year and it grew rather like Aubretia.

I have it here now in Portugal, various kinds of it, normal, lemon, etc, and I just put it in the ground in borders and let it get on with it's own thing ... it can take the heat but it does love a good watering too. :yess:

You don't mention Rosemary, that is another one that will take great neglect and is a wonderful shrub to have in the garden.

 

I've never, ever been able to germinate this from seed, well perhaps just a little bit before it died. My worst failure was when I opened a packet of thyme seeds (the foil one inside the paper packet) and there was actually no seeds in there whatsoever.

So I now look around for reduced pots at garden centres which are even cheaper than buying seeds and achieving 100% germination.

 

I buy a lot of my herbs ,when they need replacing at the supermarkets,mint, sage ,chives and thyme of course .You usually pick them up for 50p or so a pot.:WINK1:

Last year I had to replace my mint so I bought a pot planted it up and when it was going I could see I had 2 different types ,1 garden mint and a spearmint.

I now have 4 types the 2 I mentioned plus a huge pot of apple mint and some divine chocolate mint

 

Oh Chocolate mint is gorgeous! it's smells exactly like after eight's I can't wait until I get back home, I've got plans to make up half a dozen hypertufa trough's and fill them with herbs

 

I have the peppermint and chocolate mint which is devine but have not yet been able to find the spearmint.

 

thanks for the warm welcome Victoria,


i didnt mention rosemary as i already have an established plant around 15 years old in another bed, which i use in cooking quite alot, so its not the prettiest of bushes. a bit gnarled and bent over but it just keeps on growing. i did take some cuttings from it this year which are doing really well. and yes it can take some abuse! it was in flower all through the winter including temperatures down to -15c.

 

All rosemary died in my part of Scotland last winter, couldn't even buy a new plant, so tried seeds - also no success.
Have now bought a new plant and have taken as many cuttings as poss to try to get at least one through winter.

ps thyme also suffered but have had some success with seeds