When and how do you do it right?

Topiary and harvest go hand in hand

Do not limit the cut on lemon thyme solely to current needs, especially if the kitchen only requests the herb plant sporadically. Shorten the subshrub evenly all around, at the same time keep the degree of lignification in check. How to do it right:

• The best time is just before the start of flowering during the morning hours
• Use sharp, disinfected scissors to shorten all branches
• Make the cut so that a small piece of green tissue remains

If possible, do not cut into the old, brown wood in the middle of the season, because lemon thyme is difficult to drive out of it again. On this occasion, do you fall into dead shoots eye, please cut it off at the base. The deeper the sun's rays penetrate the shrub, the more luxuriant leaves and flowers sprout.

Simply dry the excess harvest

Lemon thyme is one of the privileged herbal plants whose aroma intensifies when dried. If the yield from the branches exceeds the demand for fresh goods, use them to make small bouquets. Hanged upside down in a dark place surrounded by air, dry the branches within a few weeks.

Spring rejuvenation pruning - how to do it

At the end of the flowering period or before the beginning of winter, cut the branches back by a maximum of half. Then add the conditional hardy Herbal plant with a thick layer of leaves to protect against frost and snow. Only when the ground frost is no longer to be feared in spring does the lemony subshrub receive its annual rejuvenation pruning:

• Cut all twigs to a hand's breadth above the ground
• Cut dead wood, poor and frozen shoots at the base

Then give your Thymus x citriodorus new momentum with a portion of compost or liquid herbal fertilizer.