Quick Take: Thyme is one of the most forgiving herbs you can grow. It's drought-tolerant, cold-hardy, comes back year after year, and thrives in containers. If you've struggled with other herbs, thyme is the one that will rebuild your confidence.

By Nicole Johnsey Burke: Founder of Gardenary and Author of Kitchen Garden Revival

The Benefits of Thyme

Thyme is a nutritious herb in the Lamiaceae family, a plant family that does well most seasons of the year in the kitchen garden. Thyme grows quickly and looks lovely draped over the corner of an herb garden or along the edges of a kitchen garden. The shallow roots of thyme also make it ideal for growing in containers.

If you let your thyme flower, the pretty little blooms will attract bees just when it's time for your tomatoes, cucumbers, and other fruiting plants to be pollinated.

There are actually two main varieties of thyme: creeping and upright. Creeping thyme makes great ground cover, but when we're talking about herb gardens, we'll mostly be looking at upright varieties—the kind you'll want to harvest from and enjoy in your cooking as much as possible.

Speaking of cooking, thyme will add an earthy, citrusy flavor to your meals.

It's definitely an herb worth having on hand, so without further ado, here's how to plant, grow, and harvest your own organic thyme.

Is thyme a perennial?

Thyme, like rosemary and oregano, is a perennial herb.

Perennials are your woody herbs that either continue growing throughout the entire year in moderate climates or, in colder places, die back and then return from their roots for another year or two of growth once the weather warms.

In places with milder winters, thyme can thrive into the cool months of the year and continue its growth as an evergreen. It can even hang on in the heat of summer. That means some gardeners can have fresh thyme all year long!

Can thyme survive winter?

Thyme is a fairly hardy herb. It can survive the winter in many places, even brief periods of frost, but will halt its growth. In a colder climate, thyme will die back during the winter and then send up new growth in the spring.

If you want to be able to continue harvesting from thyme over winter in a colder climate, consider moving your herb indoors. If you have a sunny window sill, preferably one that's south-facing, you can pot up thyme and keep it inside over winter. I've had a lot of success transitioning thyme indoors each year. While it doesn't produce as many leaves as it does outside, it continues growing moderately until I can move it back outdoors in the spring. Read more on how to overwinter herbs indoors.

Thyme Growing Conditions

Your main goal is to re-create an environment that feels like home to thyme, but unless you live in the Mediterranean region, thyme is not native to your area. It's up to you to provide it with its ideal growing conditions.

The best thyme to grow... I mean time to grow thyme is during the longest and warmest days of the year (75°F and above). That being said, thyme is cold-hardy.

It's also drought tolerant once it's established in your garden (think of those dry Mediterranean hillsides). It's more likely that a beginner gardener will kill thyme through overly enthusiastic watering than under-watering.

Can thyme grow in shade?

Though thyme loves the sun, it will continue to grow in part sun. You'll see the most leaf production if you give this herb six to eight hours of sunlight per day.

Planting Thyme

Thyme seedlings are slow to grow, which is why we recommend planting thyme from a cutting or a mature plant purchased from the store.

Many herbs, thyme included, are easy to propagate. I call this herb magic. Take a few cuttings from a mature plant, remove the lower leaves, and place the stems in a small glass of fresh water in a sunny windowsill while you wait for roots to form. Transfer to a pot once you see several inches of roots.

Thyme is also easily divided, so if you know someone with a mature thyme plant, you could also ask them for permission to divide their herb in spring or early fall. (We're all about free plants over here!) Pull the plant's root ball from the soil and use a hori hori or a sharp spade to divide it into two. Replant the first half and take the second to transplant into your garden. Water thoroughly after transplanting while the plant recovers from its operation.

If you want to be able to enjoy thyme in your garden immediately, consider buying a mature plant from a nursery or a local grower. As always, avoid buying herbs from big box stores. Most of them will have traveled quite a distance before reaching the store and have most likely been treated with fungicide or synthetic fertilizers so they look great when you see them at the store. In my experience, the more local the nursery you buy your herb plants from, the better.

While buying mature plants is more expensive than cheap seeds or free cuttings, thyme should hopefully last a while in your garden and more than make up for your investment.

How to Grow Thyme

I've found the most success with growing thyme in a raised garden or container, rather than in the ground. This is mostly because I've usually gardened in areas with clay soil, which thyme does not like. A raised garden filled with soil that drains quickly feels a lot more like home to your herb.

To grow thyme, pick a planter, pot, or container that's at least 6 inches deep. I also recommend picking something at least a foot wide so that you can grow some of thyme's cousins or several different types of thyme in one container. I like to have English thyme, French thyme, and lemon thyme on hand.

Learn more about setting up an herb garden.

What to Look for in a Thyme Container

• Material: Cedar, steel, or terra cotta are my favorites. Look for "food grade" and "untreated" on the label.
• Drainage: Must have holes in the bottom — drill some if it doesn't. Thyme sitting in water is thyme on its way out.
• Liner: Add a landscape cloth or weed barrier at the bottom to keep soil from washing out every time you water.
• Soil: Fill with well-draining potting mix, then top with 2 to 3 inches of compost before planting.

Thyme Plant Care

Thyme is easy to grow and keep alive throughout the year. This little Mediterranean herb is drought tolerant and loves sun.

You'll find overall that herbs are incredibly easy to master compared to other plants you might grow in the garden. That's why we typically recommend that new gardeners start with herbs, then salad greens, before they ever move onto more needy and space-hogging plants like tomatoes and eggplants.

How to fertilize thyme

Herbs grown in soil rich in organic matter don't require much else to keep them happy and healthy. If you want to boost your thyme plant's leaf growth, add a fertilizer high in nitrogen.

How often to water thyme

Thyme prefers well-draining soil and hates to be overwatered. It's best to water your herb consistently but let the soil dry out a bit between watering. Stick your finger into the soil before watering and check the soil an inch or two below the surface. If it's still wet, don't water just yet.

I recommend growing your thyme near other woody herbs, like rosemary, oregano, marjoram, lavender, and sage, which also like their soil to stay on the dry side.

How to Harvest Thyme to Keep Your Plant Producing

Once your thyme is established, harvest often — it's good for the plant and good for your kitchen. 

Why frequent harvesting helps:

• Encourages new leaf production
• Prevents pest pressure
• Deters disease

How to harvest thyme:

• Use clean pruners to cut from the outermost branches, almost to the base of the plant
• Or pinch just above a leaf node to encourage the stem to branch into two
• Your plant should be at least 4 to 5 inches in diameter before you start harvesting heavily

One rule to follow: Never cut more than a third of the plant at one time. Give it time to bounce back before you come back for more.

In winter, if your thyme hasn't died back, you can keep harvesting — just take a modest amount and let the plant rest between cuts. The more consistently you harvest, the more leaves your thyme will produce. It really is that straightforward.

Using Thyme Fresh or Dried

My favorite way to use herbs is fresh from the garden. I like to dash out to the garden to harvest herbs as needed, but you can also store thyme in a small glass filled with fresh water or in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

To dry thyme for future use, tie some sprigs of thyme together and hang your little herb bouquet upside down to dry somewhere indoors that does not receive direct sunlight. Make sure there's no moisture left before you remove the dried leaves from the stems and store them in a jar.

Whether you're enjoying your thyme fresh or dried, you'll find the flavor is so much better than the store-bought kind.

Nicole's Guide to Thyme Varieties Worth Growing

Not all thyme is the same, and growing a mix of varieties makes your herb garden more interesting — and more useful in the kitchen. Here are the ones I keep on hand:

English thyme — the classic culinary thyme. Strong flavor, upright growth, the one you'll reach for most in cooking. Easy to find at any nursery.

French thyme — slightly more delicate flavor than English, with narrower leaves. Beautiful in the garden and excellent fresh in salads and light dishes.

Lemon thyme — bright citrus aroma that's incredible with fish, chicken, and roasted vegetables. One of my personal favorites. The variegated variety has pretty yellow-edged leaves that look gorgeous in a container.

Creeping thyme — a low-growing variety that spreads along the ground and produces tiny blooms that pollinators love. Not the best for culinary use, but excellent as a living ground cover between raised beds or along garden edges.

German thyme — very similar to English thyme, slightly hardier in colder climates. A good choice if you garden in a place with brutal winters.

I like to grow English, French, and lemon thyme together in one wide container — they have the same water and sun needs, and having all three within reach makes cooking so much more interesting.

Recipes for Thyme

My favorite use for thyme is on this easy herb garden flatbread—mostly because it's something covered in green that my kids will actually eat.

You could also crumble thyme and make your very own bouquet garni or another spice blend. I like to season roasted vegetables from my kitchen garden with thyme and a little salt and pepper

When someone has a sore throat, I brew thyme leaves with lemon and honey for a soothing tea.