Growing at the Speed of Life - A Year in the Life of My First Kitchen Garden

Thyme

Thymus vulgaris;T. citriodorius

W

e have friends who planted lemon thyme to separate a clump. Both sides are then re­
between fairly wide-spaced paving stones planted with a 6- to 8-inch space all around.
in a garden patio. It’s gradually grown into every Layering is a gardening art form that involves
space and looks fantastic. It’s remarkably resil­ growing a stem as long as possible. Th en (while
ient, and on a warm evening, the crushing it the root is still buried), strip off the leaves and
gets underfoot sends up the most delicious aro­ lay it on the soil. Dig a small shallow hole/
mas, not unlike the chamomile planted amid trench, scrape the underside of the stem with a
the grassy lawns of Buckingham Palace, which knife, then fill the trench with sand and peat
smells like green apples as you take tea during a moss. Press the scraped stalk into the sand and
midsummer visit . . . or so I’m told. hold it there with a U-bent piece of wire pushed
This is a ground-hugging herb—never taller down like a staple. The roots should grow out
than 9 inches, and half that for the creeping from the wound. You can prop up the end of the
T. citriodorius (lemon thyme). stalk on a small stake to get it looking upward!
There are more than 60 varieties listed, and Of course, you can also buy your starts from
while I haven’t tried them all in the kitchen, so a good nursery, but be sure that it’s lemon
far the combination of citrus/lemon and mint thyme.
flavors have captured my enthusiasm, and I Plant it in front of the taller herbs, which
now use it exclusively. logically belong at the back of a bed, and it’ll be
Since lemon thyme won’t grow from seeds, easy to harvest.
you have to resort to one of two propagation You can get great success using it on as-
techniques: division or layering. Division is paragus, beans, broccoli, carrots (along with
simply easing an established plant out of the nutmeg ), sweet corn, eggplant, potatoes, spin­
ground and cutting vertically through the roots ach, and tomatoes.

284 • GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE