How to grow thyme

Picture: Unsplash

Like rosemary, thyme will do very well in a pot. Think shallow dishes and troughs, where the water can easily drain away, and make sure you add some sand or horticultural grit to the soil. Water and feed it well after pruning, and fresh new growth will soon appear. The rest of the time water sparingly – once a week is fine.

This perennial herb is a wonderful ground- cover plant, so put it where you are going to brush against it, releasing the scent. Alternatively, plant it around the base of a fruit tree: this will increase your growing space, suppress weeds and help to retain moisture in the soil. You can grow thyme from seed – something that I will be experimenting with soon – but if you want to get your hands on some fairly quickly, buy thyme plants from a garden centre.

Thyme offers a wide variety of flower and foliage colours. In the past I have put plants of different leaf colours – say silver, deep green and golden – together in a single large pot to create a mosaic effect, which was most effective. To add to its virtues, thyme is one of the best plants for attracting bees to your container garden. Of course, it is also extremely useful in the kitchen. I use it in soups and stews, and I love to use it in Creamed Chicken. But it is perhaps best added to dishes that are being roasted, grilled (broiled) or even barbecued because the intense heat will bring out the oils and maximize the flavour.

Favourite varieties

Make sure you are buying culinary rather than ornamental thyme. Thymus vulgaris or common thyme is the default variety. Beyond this, there is a huge range of cultivars to choose from. Go for the leaf and flower colour that appeals to you. I also like to grow lemon thyme, but it has a completely different flavour from common thyme, so should not be regarded as a substitute.

Key dates

As with rosemary, young plants need a chance to establish themselves before the cold comes, so get them planted up as soon as the frosts have passed. Prune thyme in summer, after flowering, to stop it getting too woody.

Common problems

Thyme hates to get its feet wet, and will rot off in the winter if it sits in water. To avoid this, use a good, free-draining compost (potting soil) with some added grit or sand and put the plant in a shallow pot.

An extract from Grow Fruit and Vegetables in Pots by Aaron Bertelsen (Phaidon).

This article originally appeared on House & Garden UK