Herbs
Thyme
Thymus vulgaris
Timings for your region
Suggested: Moderate · Explained in the glossary
Start indoorsmid March – early May
Plantingearly May – mid June
Harvestearly May – late October
Practical tip
Wants poor, free-draining soil and full sun — waterlogging kills it faster than any frost. Trim lightly in spring to stop it going woody.
Origin & history
Common thyme is a dwarf shrub of the western Mediterranean, growing there on limestone scree in garrigue and maquis — the small, inrolled leaves are an answer to drought, not to cold. It came north of the Alps through monastery gardens in the Middle Ages. It has relatives here: wild thyme (Thymus pulegioides) grows on poor dry grassland all over Germany.
Varieties
For the kitchen, Thymus vulgaris is the species you want; the hardiest selection is “Deutscher Winter”, which stays compact and tastes strong. Lemon thyme (Thymus × citriodorus) smells citrusy but is markedly more frost-sensitive, and the flat creeping thymes are really paving-crack and rock-garden plants with weaker flavour. Seed-raised plants differ noticeably in flavour — if you have a good one, propagate it from cuttings or layers rather than sowing again.
Care
Thyme gets no feeding and, once established, hardly any water; in a bed the rain is enough, in a pot you water only when the compost is genuinely dry. Harvesting is the maintenance: cutting shoot tips regularly keeps it dense — but only into leafy wood, since bare old wood does not reshoot. Stop cutting hard from the end of August so the shoots harden before frost. Bark mulch or compost right against the base causes rot; gravel or coarse sand is better there.
What can go wrong
Almost everything that goes wrong starts underground: in heavy soil that stays wet over winter the roots rot, the plant goes grey from the middle and dies back shoot by shoot — a slightly raised planting position, sand or grit in the planting hole and an open, sunny spot are the answer. Winter losses are less often down to hard frost than to winter desiccation: the evergreen foliage transpires on sunny frosty days while the frozen roots cannot resupply it, and a layer of brushwood over the plant prevents that. After about five years a plant is woody and bare in the middle, so start a layer in good time as its successor.
Harvest, storage & kitchen
Thyme is one of the few herbs that can cook for a long time — it goes in early with braises, soups and fried potatoes rather than being scattered over at the end. Strip the leaves by pulling the sprig through your fingers against the direction of growth; woody stems go in whole with a bouquet garni and are fished out before serving. It loses little when dried airy, dark and whole — crumble the leaves only as you cook.
All timings are guide values for the given climate, not a guarantee. Weather, aspect and variety all have a say.