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Lemon-smelling thyme has another name – it’s thyme. Breeders were able to create several of its varieties that differ in characteristics. You can use the plant for different purposes, so gardeners actively grow it on their plots.
Description of lemon thyme with photo
The first mention of thyme can be found in the annals of the 16th century. The genus Thyme belongs to the Yasnotkov family. Outwardly, it is a stunted, up to 35 cm tall shrub with a pleasant aroma reminiscent of lemon. Its root system is powerful, in adult plants the stem is lignified.
Lemon thyme flowers are pink or purple, collected in spikelets, similar in shape to a bell. Leaf plates are small, short, hard, resembling skin to the touch. Their main color is green with a yellow undertone, but with age it becomes more and more dark.
Lemon thyme is a perennial
Varieties of Lemon Thyme
About 400 types of culture are known in the world. Four varieties are ubiquitous in horticultural plots around the world:
- Donne Valley (Doone Valley) is a perennial with a height of 15-25 cm. The stem is pubescent, decorated with beautiful, oval, small foliage of a dark green hue, along the perimeter of which yellow spots are arranged in a chaotic manner. The flowers of the variety are lilac, with a lemon scent. Buds open from June to July. The culture belongs to unpretentious plants, but does not tolerate excess moisture. Under favorable conditions, it quickly grows in the area. You can use thyme as a spice or as a decorative element on the site.
If you rub the leaves of the Donne Valley variety, the lemon flavor will intensify several times.
- Bertram Anderson (Bertram Anderson) – undersized perennial up to 15 cm high. Its root system is taproot, but highly branched. The stems are creeping, covered with small, egg-shaped leaves of a green hue with yellow spots. The buds are small, up to 4–8 mm in length, pink, collected in spike-shaped inflorescence. Thyme emits a pleasant aroma, which makes it an excellent honey plant. Thyme is not afraid of pests and diseases, does not like excessive moisture and heavy soil. The variety needs shelter for the winter and shading in the spring.
Variety Bertram Anderson is most often grown for ornamental purposes.
- Silver Queen is a perennial common in southern France. The height of the bush is 15-30 cm, the leaves are ovoid, small in size, green in color with a white border. The buds are pale pink in color, bloom from June to July. The variety withstands partial shade, but grows slowly. Lemon-smelling thyme is distinguished by unpretentiousness and drought resistance, it needs pruning.
The Silver Queen variety is known for its healing properties, it is used in traditional medicine and cosmetology.
- Golden Dwarf (Golden Dwarf) – undersized perennial, reaching a height of 10-15 cm. The leaves are small, green in color with yellow, rounded in shape with a pronounced lemon aroma. The buds are pink, collected in a capitate inflorescence. Thyme is resistant to pests and diseases, prefers sunny places with neutral or alkaline soil. For the winter, he should be protected, in the spring he needs shading.
Variety Golden Duarf is known among landscape designers as a carpet plant, so it is planted along curbs, on alpine slides
Advantages and disadvantages
One of the main advantages of lemon thyme is its high decorative properties. It not only pleases with its appearance, but also with a pronounced pleasant aroma. Bushes are resistant to trampling and mechanical damage, are not afraid of pests and insects. An important role is played by the unpretentiousness of culture to care.
Among the shortcomings, one can single out the need to observe crop rotation: the plant cannot be grown in the same place for more than four years. It should also be borne in mind that there are a number of contraindications to the use of lemon thyme for individuals who want to take advantage of its valuable properties.
Planting lemon thyme
On the site for the plant, it is recommended to allocate places protected from the wind, well lit by the sun. Light partial shade is allowed, but without sufficient lighting, the shrub quickly dies or grows slowly and does not bloom.
The soil for lemon thyme should be fertile, light, neutral in acidity. To lower the pH level, you can add lime to the bed, and to improve water permeability, mix the earth with sand.
Cultivation of thyme is most often done using seeds. To do this, you can use greenhouses or immediately land on a permanent place.
All work should begin after the snow melts:
- Dig up and level the earth, add urea to the bed. To do this, dissolve 20 g of the mixture in 10 liters of water and spill the flower bed.
- With a chopper, build furrows up to 0,2 cm deep, observing a distance of 30-50 cm.
- Sow the seeds, sprinkle with earth and level.
For decorative purposes, you can plant lemon thyme in a pot on the windowsill. In this case, thyme seeds are placed in containers with soil. The soil mixture for the pot is obtained by adding peat to the sand in proportions of 1: 1. The earth must be moist.
The sown material must be covered with a film or glass until shoots appear. Usually this period is 30 days. Further care consists in watering and spraying the sprouts with water, weeding.
After the appearance of 2-3 leaves, lemon thyme can be dived. Weak plants must be destroyed, leaving only strong specimens. The distance between them should be at least 7-10 cm.
The optimal time for sowing lemon thyme is March
Caring for Lemon Thyme
Despite the unpretentiousness, the plant needs some care. Watering lemon thyme is necessary only during the period of drought and before flowering. To avoid waterlogging the soil, it is necessary to mulch the flower bed with fine gravel.
The shrub practically does not need top dressing. With proper planting, nothing should be added to the garden during the first two years. With further cultivation, it is enough to feed annually in March with mineral complexes.
Pruning of lemon thyme is done in the spring, it consists in removing shoots by 2/3 of the length, destroying dry flowers
Features of reproduction
The procedure can be carried out in several ways:
- Cuttings. Before flowering, separate a shoot up to 5 cm long from creeping branches and plant it under a film cover in a greenhouse or immediately in a garden bed. Protection can be removed after rooting the cutting.
- Shrub division. Divide the plant into several parts while maintaining the root system, and then plant them in separate flower beds. Provide seedlings with protection in the form of a film or glass jar until they get stronger.
- Seeds. Lemon thyme is characterized by rapid spread throughout the site. This is due to the fact that the contents of the boxes fall into the soil in autumn and are carried by the wind. To control self-seeding, it is recommended to collect the material in advance, thin out the plants in time.
Lemon thyme in landscape design
The plant is a wonderful decoration of the garden, it is often planted instead of lawn grass. So that it does not lose its decorative properties, it is recommended to cut it more often and not let it bloom.
The culture looks great on the alpine hills, not far from the gazebos and benches, which makes it possible not only to admire the appearance of the plant, but also to enjoy the aroma.
To control the spread of lemon thyme, designers plant it in rock gardens or along borders.
Useful properties and contraindications of lemon thyme
Thyme can be used not only as an ornamental crop, but also as a remedy. The plant has a pronounced antiseptic and bactericidal effect, rich in minerals and trace elements. Known thyme and vasoconstrictor, expectorant and bronchodilator action. Such beneficial properties make it possible to use the culture in the treatment of lung diseases, gynecological pathologies.
Contraindications to the use of lemon thyme are:
- allergic reactions;
- pregnancy;
- liver and kidney disease;
- hypertension.
Uses of lemon thyme
The plant is popular in cooking. In dried form, it is added to fish and meat dishes, salads, vegetables. You can also meet lemon thyme in conservation. With prolonged processing, it does not lose its taste, so it can be used at all stages of cooking.
In the spice store, lemon thyme can be found under the name thyme.
In folk medicine and cosmetology, culture is added to baths and compresses, infusions and teas are made from it. The medicinal properties of lemon thyme are so useful that its components are included in cosmetic products, oils and pharmaceutical preparations are made from it.
Conclusion
Lemon-smelling thyme is not only an ornamental, but also a healing plant. It is unpretentious in care, beautiful, multiplies quickly, has a wide range of applications. You can grow a culture both at home and on street beds.