Thyme for spring

[HunkieDorie23]

OK as I have stated in another thread my chives are sprouting. I also have thyme in my garden and this is my first year for it. Some of it has some branches that look like regular thyme, made it through the winter. Other branches look dead and bare. Will the bare branches spring back to life or what exactly do I do with it? Will it grow back like oregano and regrow from the roots?

 

[897tgigvib]

We grew Thyme in barely zone 4 Montana when I lived there. I found that the young plants had a hard time making it through their first winter, and each year a much higher percentage survived. They get tougher as they age.

Also, some varieties are tougher than others.

Best thing to do is leave those dead looking twigs. Some will be dead all the way down and some will still have good lower buds, so wait until late June to snip out the dead parts with garden scissors.

RaeAnn had another way to do the Thyme which her tougher soul could do, but not me. Come October she "haircut" them down to the nubs, like an inch or two. She got a lower survival percentage, but also got prettier spring plants of the survivors.

Thyme are a highly variable group of species! Some are very low growing, perfect for mass plantings between stone steps. Others make miniature bushes, like a small Potentilla! Different flavors and scents, some strong, some hardly so at all. I like that Balsam.

My suggestion is, wait until late June before snipping out the dead wood. Decide how you want your plant to be, it's character. Fuzzy small growth or spiky with sparse heavy twigs. Keep her going with low nitrogen, good P and K type slow growth, and she should be stronger next winter. Don't let her tire herself with too many flowers. Pick some of them with a pinch.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Southeast Ohio is not Montana. The time to prune out the dead stuff may be April or May for you, not June. Just wait until the good ones start to bud out.

Other than that, I'm sure not going to argue with Marshall.

I will mention that if you mulch them pretty well the first winter you'll get a better survival rate. Cover them with mulch to protect against the worst of the freezes and remove the mulch when spring arrives so they can grow. Afer that, well, they do get tougher as they age.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

Ok thanks I will watch the one. It really looks bad, hopefully it will spring back, the other looks ok.

 

[897tgigvib]

Ridge is right

I would mean a week or 2 after you'd set out Tomatoes, relative time...

 

[bills]

I planted my Thyme in a large pot last spring, and was able to provide it with some shelter over the winter. It was trimmed down to 3-4" for a final harvest last September. It doesn't appear to have grown one iota, (at least none of it has died off), and still has a lot of green leaves all over it.

I wondered about the sage I have growing.. It's looking pretty leggy, and I'm thinking I should trim it down, but I don't want to shock it either..Anyone have hints on sage, and if it can be trimmed back hard or not?

 

[897tgigvib]

The common sage will easily make a miniature semi woody shrub. the more colorful goldens, purples, and tricolor sages stay more of a rosette. which do you have? I'm suspecting the common type...

 

[bills]

Marshall, pretty sure it's just the common sage. The stems are growing quite thick and woody like, but there are not many leaves on them, (least at this time of year). The stems are approx 20" high off the ground.
I just thought they may be cut back, to produce more vigorous leaf growth, but I don't want to shock the plant either..

 

[897tgigvib]

Common Sage can be cut back, or not. Either way, with good soil and water it'll produce vigorous growth. By the way, you can bend stems down, break them partway, and bury the break. In a year a good number of them will root.

I grew some from seed when I moved up here and had what started as six plants in my garden. When I enlarged my garden I transferred the sage to Terre's garden at Lake Pillsbury resort.

 

[canesisters]

Would that work for rosemary too? Only a few of my rooted cuttings made it in the switch from water to dirt.