Growing Thyme: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · July 18, 2026
Thyme is a low, spreading perennial, not an annual herb you replant each spring — once established, it comes back reliably year after year and slowly fills in as a groundcover.
What to expect
Start seed indoors about 8 weeks before your last frost; thyme germinates slowly and benefits from the head start. Transplants go outside shortly after that frost date. As a perennial in zones 4-11, an established plant will overwinter and resume growth the following spring rather than needing to be started over — though it’s slow to fill in during its first year. Thyme is genuinely drought-tolerant once rooted in; it’s one of the few herbs where underwatering is rarely the problem.
Common problems
A woody, sparse-looking plant after a couple of years is normal aging, not disease — thyme benefits from a light shearing after flowering to encourage fresh, tender growth instead of letting it get leggy. Wet feet are the real threat: thyme in heavy or poorly drained soil tends to rot at the crown over winter.
Where this fits in your garden
Thyme’s scent deters cabbage worms, the same role rosemary and dill play near brassicas — see the full companion guide for thyme. At 4 plants per square foot and a low, spreading habit, it works well as a permanent edging plant in the Garden Designer rather than a bed you plan to rotate crops through.
Companion planting guide for Thyme · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 4-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Start indoors — Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside — Thyme needs a head start most zones can't give it by direct-sowing alone.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
Spacing: 4 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing).
Varieties worth considering
- French or English Thyme — Illinois Extension calls French and English thyme the most popular of the culinary types, distinguishing them from ornamental types like woolly thyme that are grown for rock gardens rather than the kitchen. (source)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety — we haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy thyme seeds
Some links on this page go to retailers we may eventually earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews — see the sources cited on each item.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing thyme" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video — results vary and aren't vetted by us)