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How to Grow Thyme Plants: The Complete Guide

Learn how to plant, grow, and harvest thyme in your herb garden.

Botanical Name
Thymus vulgaris
Plant Type
Herb
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Part Sun
Hardiness Zone
5
6
7
8
9

Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Thyme

Catherine Boeckmann
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It’s about time to grow some thyme! Thyme is a wonderful herb with a pleasant, pungent, clover flavor. There are both fragrant ornamental types as well as culinary thyme varieties, which add a savory note to summer soups, grilled meats, and vegetables. Here’s how to plant and grow thyme.

About Thyme

A low-growing, hardy perennial, thyme is a fragrant herb with small, fragrant leaves and thin, woody stems. The culinary varieties are evergreen.

Thyme comes in over 50 varieties with different fragrances and flavors. Fresh or English thyme is used most often in cooking.

Originally from the Mediterranean area, this herb is drought-friendly, so it doesn’t have high watering needs. It is also pollinator-friendly! Let some thyme plants flower since the herb attracts the bees.

While thyme is usually harvested in the summer months, we have harvested ours well into late fall!

Thyme can grow in the ground or a container. Either is left outside in wintertime. New leaves will emerge within the early spring.

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Planting

  • Thyme thrives in full sun and loves heat. If you are growing in a pot indoors, plant near a sunny window.
  • Soil needs to drain well so there aren’t “wet feet.” In the garden, plant with other drought-tolerant perennials.
  • In early spring, you may fertilize with organic matter, like compost, but not much soil amendment is necessary.
  • It’s hard to grow thyme from seeds because of slow, uneven germination. It’s easier to buy the plants from a garden center or take some cuttings from a friend. Over time, you can propagate from your own cuttings.
  • For a head start, plant the cuttings indoors 6 to 10 weeks before the last spring frost. (See your local frost dates.)
  • Plant cuttings or young thyme plants any time after the ground temperature reaches 70°F. This is usually 2 to 3 weeks before the last spring frost in well-drained soil about 9 inches apart. 
  • Space young plants 12 to 24 inches apart, depending upon the specific variety.
  • The plants should grow 6 to 12 inches in height.
  • In the garden, plant thyme near cabbage or tomatoes. 
  • If you are growing thyme in containers, plant with rosemary, which also likes sunny conditions and has similar watering needs.

Growing

  • Water deeply only when the soil is completely dry.
  • Prune the plants back in the spring and summer to contain the growth.
  • If you have cold winters, remember to lightly mulch around the plants after the ground freezes.
  • Three to 4-year-old plants need to be divided or replaced because older plants are woody and the leaves less flavorful.
  • You can take some cuttings and plant them indoors in pots, too.

How to Take a Cutting of Thyme

Clip a 3-inch cutting from the very tip of a stem, apply rooting hormone on the exposed portion of the stem, and plant it in either sterile sand or vermiculite. Roots will emerge within about 6 weeks. Transfer to a small pot, let the root ball form, and then transfer to a large pot or directly to your garden.

Types

The three most common varieties of culinary thyme are:

  • French or English thyme (most common)
  • Lemon thyme, for a hint of lemon
  • Caraway thyme, for a nice fragrance of caraway and thyme

Harvesting

  • Harvest thyme just before the plant flowers by cutting off the top 5 to 6 inches of growth. Leave the tough, woody parts.
  • It’s best to harvest thyme in the morning after the dew has dried. Clean leaves should not be washed because it removes some of the essential oils. 
  • Two or more crops may be gathered during the season.
  • Or, if you keep trimming your thyme plant, it will keep growing (and also keep a compact shape). But always leave at least 5 inches of growth so the plant will continue to thrive.
  • Trim thyme whenever it gets leggy.
  • Fresh thyme should be stored refrigerated and wrapped lightly in plastic; it should last 1 to 2 weeks.
  • To dry thyme, hang the sprigs in a dark, well-ventilated, warm area. You can also just dry the leaves by placing them on a tray. Once dried, store them in an airtight container. Crush just before using. Under good conditions, herbs will retain maximum flavor for 2 years. 
  • Freezing is another method of storage.
Gardening Products

Wit and Wisdom

Burning thyme can help get rid of insects in your house.

Learn more about herb folklore.

Pests/Diseases

Recipes

Herb-Stuffed Pasta
Grilled Flank Steak With Thyme
Carrots with Brown Butter & Thyme
Chicken With Lemon and Thyme

Cooking Notes

Thyme adds a gentle flavor to just about anything, especially eggs, tomatoes, meats, soups, beans, and potatoes.

Its taste has been described as a bit earthy with lemony and minty tones. Some think it has a slight floral flavor.

Fresh thyme can be used with or without its stem. However, if a recipe calls for a “sprig,” the stem should be left on. The leaves will fall off in cooking, and then the stem can be removed prior to serving.  

If a recipe calls for a “sprig” of thyme, the leaves and stem should be used together, intact. When adding a whole sprig of thyme to soups, stews, or other recipes, the leaves usually fall off during cooking, and the woody stem can be removed prior to serving.

Herbs
About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
 

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Comments

Thyme Potter Newbie (not verified)

1 year 10 months ago

Hello almanac.com:

Living in Pennsylvania where temperatures are currently in the 20-30 degree range, I've come by a thyme plant with a long, woody, root tht runs horizontaly to the plant. This root has multiple fine filaments where it meets the upright portion of the plant and further down has some single slightly thicker extensions which also might be roots. Anyway, I'd like to pot this herb for indoors, i.e. until spring arrives, and have the following questions:

1. What particular potting soil mix would best serve this purpose?
2. And/or would some dirt dug up from the back yard be just as good?
3. If the main root was trimmed for potting, leaving just the fine tendrils section ... could other pieces of this main root, i.e. those with the single extensions, be potted to produce other, separate, plants?

-Thanks for any inputs.

Eleanor (not verified)

5 years 7 months ago

I started my thyme seeds in April inside the house under LED lights 16 hrs on 8 hrs off. Sprouted in about 2 weeks now it does not appear to be growing at all. Some days it looks dry and other days it appears to be over watered.

Sara (not verified)

5 years 7 months ago

I just put my thyme outside,with temp.17-19 in the day and 5-7 at night.have had a bit of rain,I notice the green has faded,what can I do to get the leaves green again.right now I took it away from the rain.please tell me how to take care of this plant.thanks.

Nathaniel (not verified)

5 years 11 months ago

Please how can I get this plant around Oyo state.

lucia calero (not verified)

6 years 7 months ago

i have a large bed full of thyme and it is flowering at the tips. can the flowers and seeds be eaten?

The Editors

6 years 6 months ago

Yes, you can eat the thyme flowers: they are not only pretty but perfectly edible. If you want to avoid flowering, however, be sure to trim your herbs. Thyme will regrow if you trim only the very top inch of each branch. (Do not cut into old wood.) The plant may look a bit sparse, but it will sprout again as long as you don’t overwater it.

jeanne (not verified)

7 years 4 months ago

Purple flowers have taken over my bed of Thyme. Do I use them in my cooking?

Hi Jeanne,

Yes, you can use thyme flowers in your cooking, to flavor butter or olive oil, or in salads. 

shirly sukhram (not verified)

7 years 5 months ago

I have German and English thyme in containers and noticed the leaves are very tiny and stringy stems. I usually cut them and dried for use in the winter. My ? is do I need to fertilize them.
Thank you.

Is the thyme healthy looking, otherwise?  We usually like to start with a specimen that is stringy-looking to tie onto a frame. However, once you give the thyme plenty of bright light (6 to 8 hours) and fertilizer and water, the stems should start to get woody and stuff and self-supporting. Is the light bright enough? Is the soil moisture even, not soggy? Many people overwater herbs.

Herbs require minimal fertilization. In fact, herbs often suffer from overwatering and overfertilizing rather than from not enough. We like to amend with peat moss or any type of composted organic matter at planting but avoid fertilization after germination.