How to grow thyme

Thyme is a low, woody perennial herb that home gardeners plant once and harvest from for several years, tucked into the sunniest, driest corner of a bed where its scent releases underfoot. The plant forms a compact mound of small, gray-green leaves on wiry stems, typically under a foot tall, and produces small flowers in early summer that pull in bees alongside the culinary harvest. The leaves hold their flavor well dried, so gardeners often let a planting run through a season, clipping it as needed rather than on a fixed schedule.

The hardest part of growing thyme well is drainage, not fertility. Iowa State University Extension identifies root rot in wet or poorly drained soil as the main threat to the plant, since thyme tolerates poor, dry ground far better than standing moisture. A second-year gardener who plants it in a regular bed next to vegetables that expect weekly watering, rather than in a raised, gritty spot that drains fast, tends to water it on the same schedule as everything else. The roots sit wet all season, and by the next spring the perennial that was supposed to return for years is simply gone.