How to Garden with Thyme

Thyme is an herb that can be easily grown in the garden. There are so many varieties of thyme that you can design with it to enhance your landscape. Thyme is a multi-use herb that can decorate your garden, flavor your food and offer an herbal remedy for colds, allergies, fungal infections and stress. Here is some information on how to garden with thyme.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. 
   Thyme languino

   USE THYME IN AN HERB GARDEN.
   
   Thyme is an easy to grow, low profile plant that is perfect for the herb garden. It grows in a neat mound so it will fit with wilder looking plants in a natural styled herb garden or the formal restrictions of a knot garden.

2. 
   Thyme pink chintz

   USE THYME IN THE FLOWER GARDEN.
   
   Many thymes will cover themselves with pink, purple or white flowers so profuse that they are more colorful than other garden flowers!

3. 
   Thyme citrodorus 'Doone Valley'

   USE THYME IN A FORMAL GARDEN.
   
   Because thyme grows in such a neat form, it makes a perfect border for a formal garden.

4. 
   Thyme minor

   USE THYME AS A GROUNDCOVER.
   
   Thyme can grow from 1/2" to 12" tall (the lowest being T. minor and the tallest being T. vulgaris). It makes an ideal mat-like ground cover to replace lawns, cover hills and fill in empty spaces.

5. 
   Thyme species: Lemon bush

   USE THYME IN POTS.
   
   Due to its small size and trailing habit, thyme makes a wonderful plant to grow in a decorative pot. It is ornamental and can make a companion plant to fill in the base of a taller growing plant, or can provide decor of its own by spilling over the edges of a container.

6. 
   Thyme albus

   DIFFERENT KINDS OF THYME.
   
   There are so many beautiful varieties of thyme with different colored and textured leaves and sparkling flowers. Here is a sampling:
   
   T.alba (albus) is low-growing and sprawling with bright white flowers
   T.'Annie Hall' is a purple-red blooming form of the popular T. serpyllum cultivar
   T.'Bressingham Pink" is a tiny-leafed clear pink-flowering form that will grow into low mounds over time.
   T. citrodorus is called Lemon Thyme and is often used to relieve muscle spasms. It does smell like lemon.
   T. 'Highland Cream' with white variegated edges only grows about an inch high yet spreads two feet wide when happy. It has lavender flowers.
   T. elfin or minor - the lowest growing mat-forming thyme can be just 1/2" high but spread to 18" wide. It will cover itself with lavender-pink flowers in spring.
   T. Langinosus is the Woolly-leafed thyme. This thyme has fuzzy greyish leaves that look worthy of patting.
   T. 'Pink Chinz' is another showy variety that gets covered with bright pink flowers.

7. All thymes are edible. Most grow well in zones from 4 - 11. Most enjoy at least some full sun, but prefer some shading in hot desert sun. They are lightly drought-tolerant and are not fussy about soil. With the ease of growing, tremendous decorative versatility, and so many uses in the home, no garden should be without thyme plants. For more information on how to grow garden thyme, please check under Resources below for helpful links.

Resources

• Grow and buy herbs at Bonnie Plants
• Guide to growing herbs
• Garden design ideas and growing information
• High Country Gardens

[CaseyCarlton]

on 2/23/2009 Great article on Thymes. Lots of information. Thanks! 5 stars and a recommend.