PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Thyme (Lemon)
Thymus × citriodorus
🌿 Herb
🔁 Perennial
A compact evergreen thyme with a fresh lemon scent — lovely with fish, chicken and in tea. Pale-pink summer flowers for bees.
At a glance: harvest in May.
When to plant and care for it
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Harvest
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Thyme (Lemon): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water until established; drought-tolerant after
- Soil
- Poor to moderate, very well-drained soil
- Spacing
- 25 cm
- Height
- 20 cm
- In pots
- Grows well in containers
- Feeding
- Little or no feeding
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 5–9
Step by step
- On planting day
Plant
Plant at the same depth as in its pot, 25 cm apart, in a sunny, sheltered spot. Firm in.
- 0–1 days after “Plant”
Water In
Water well, then keep just moist while it settles in.
- 30–51 days after “Water In”
First Light Harvest
Once it is growing strongly, snip a few sprigs — never more than a third of the plant at once.
Every year
- MayHarvest Sprigs
Snip sprigs as needed all summer.
- JulyTrim After Flowering
Shear off faded flowers and a little leafy growth to keep it compact.
