On your own personal plot you can grow not only beautiful, but also very useful plants. Many beautifully flowering herbs can be used not only for decorative purposes, but also for therapy and prevention of a variety of pathological conditions. Moreover, some of them are very easy to cultivate - such plants require only minimal supervision. This also applies to thyme, which is also known as thyme. So, the topic of our conversation today will be planting creeping thyme and caring for it in the ground, and we will also provide a photo of this plant.
Creeping thyme is a representative of low-growing subshrubs. It extremely rarely grows above fifteen centimeters, and seems to spread along the ground, forming an attractive, soft and very fragrant mat. Thyme flowers most often have a bright purple color, but sometimes other colors are also found, for example, white. Distinctive feature thyme – tendency to long flowering. This culture pleases the eye throughout the summer, so it can be used in landscape design.
In the photo creeping thyme
Landing at open ground
This plant thrives in loose soils. Sunlight has a positive effect on its development, so it is worth planting thyme in open ground in well-lit areas. This crop grows well in neutral or alkaline soil. It is desirable that the soil in the area with such a plant be well drained and fairly fertile. When landing on a heavy clay soil Creeping thyme often gets under water; in such a situation, you cannot do without high-quality drainage.
Readers of “Popular about Health” need to think about preparing a site for planting thyme in the fall. When digging up an area, you need to add a certain amount to the soil. organic fertilizers, for example, compost or manure. In the spring, when the temperature outside normalizes and reaches thirteen degrees, it is advisable to dig up the soil again and then sow the seeds.
Planting material is mixed with sand and scattered over the surface of the prepared soil. Afterwards, you can additionally sprinkle the area with river sand. It is believed that such a simple measure will prevent water stagnation and ensure seedlings additional quantity nutrients. After the emergence of seedlings, it is necessary to thin out the plants, leaving seedlings at intervals of thirty to thirty-five centimeters.
Many gardeners grow thyme from seeds using the seedling method. In this case, in mid-spring (approximately in the second decade of March) you need to sow planting material in containers filled with light soil (for example, a mixture of equal parts sand and peat). Crops should be sprinkled with sand and sprayed with a spray bottle, and covered with glass until germination. Periodically you need to ventilate the container and spray the soil after its top layer has dried. After the first shoots appear, the glass should be removed, the plants should be kept cool, have sufficient lighting and periodic watering. Seedlings should be planted on the site at intervals of thirty centimeters after consistently warm weather has established. Before doing this, it is advisable to spend some time hardening off small plants.
You can also grow creeping thyme in open ground from cuttings. They can be selected after pruning and rooted in a permanent growing place or covered with a jar to form a greenhouse.
Features of caring for creeping thyme
This plant is not very capricious. However, for him successful cultivation, you need to organize systematic weeding for it. It is also extremely important to regularly remove weeds, because they not only worsen the decorative appearance of the plantings, but also take the lion’s share of nutrients from the thyme.
To care for the plant, it is advisable to organize systematic watering. Such procedures are carried out approximately twice a week during drought. If the summer is not very hot, you should water even less often. Besides experienced gardeners It is recommended to mulch the soil around planting plants, this will help make caring for them even easier. So, sprinkling the soil with gravel can prevent thyme from rotting in especially wet weather.
Growing Perennial Varieties creeping thyme, it is extremely important to cover them for the winter using peat or fallen leaves.
As for fertilizing, thyme does not tolerate adding fresh manure to the soil. By growing such a plant, you can feed it wood ash. This will help not only provide a sufficient amount of nutrients, but also help reduce soil acidity. Some gardeners successfully fertilize thyme with a small amount of compost, while others prefer horn meal.
Also in early spring You can feed such a culture with urea.
After the flowering period ends, it is advisable to carefully trim the bushes. This will give them an attractive shape and become denser. The stems need to be cut down to the woody parts - about two-thirds of the length.
Thyme is popular among many gardeners. This plant is not capricious; in addition, it almost never suffers from diseases and pests. In the ground, caring for it is not difficult.
Nice smelling grass small size- thyme can cover sunny, rocky and dry areas on your estate with a continuous carpet.
Ancient doctors and scientists spoke and wrote about the unusual abilities of this plant (antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral). The Greeks gave it the ability to bring the “breath of life.”
This plant continues to amaze people in our time - modern scientists claim that pathogenic microorganisms over the centuries have not been able to develop resistance to the substances contained in thyme (thyme).
If this plant grows on your estate, the surrounding space will be saturated with a pleasant aroma and will become cozy with a dense “carpet” of its flowers and modest greenery. Thyme can be successfully combined with various plants in the garden; it is often grown as a garden ground cover crop.
Description of the plant
Thyme different peoples, V different time and were called differently: boron pepper, incense, thyme, chavor, thyme, lemon scent, Bogorodskaya grass, swan, etc. Most of his relatives have the same traits:
1. Perennial subshrub of small length (the height of the shoots varies depending on the plant variety and its type and can be in the range of 5-35 cm);
2. Creeping or recumbent lignified shoots on which adventitious roots grow, the stems are covered with brown bark;
3. Peduncles formed throughout the shoot with villi;
4. Hard leaves are placed one opposite the other, the color is light depending on the type and can change to dark green;
5. The dimensions and shape of the leaves may vary depending on the type (round, oblong, etc.);
6. Flowers in small inflorescences and different color(the main colors are purple, white, pink inflorescences; in hybrid specimens the color range contains more different shades);
7. Pleasant (warm) smell, flowering lasts from June to the last ten days of August.
Planting thyme and receiving planting material
To plant thyme, choose a warm and bright area in the garden. A shaded plant will develop poorly and begin to stretch out. As a last resort, you can plant the plants in light partial shade.
For thyme to grow, the soil must be alkaline or neutral. Fertile, light, well-drained soil is best suited for this crop. If the site has damp, heavy soil, the plant begins to wither away, in which case drainage will eliminate this deficiency. You can mulch thyme with small crushed stone, gravel or pebbles.
Thyme is planted in the first ten days of autumn or early spring, when autumn planting It is necessary that the bushes take root well. In a snowy winter, the plant does not require additional shelter, and if there is not enough snow, it is advisable to cover the area with thyme with spruce branches.
Thyme propagation
Seed method. This is convenient if you need to grow a lot of thyme seedlings. To do this, in the spring, sow the seeds in a garden bed or in a greenhouse; when seedlings appear, you need to immediately weed them so that the weed sprouts do not interfere with the development of the seedlings. Often the seeds are sown in containers, and the already grown seedlings are planted in the garden. Thyme should be planted in a light soil mixture - peat and sand in a ratio of 1 to 1. Small seedlings should be lightly sprayed with a spray bottle when the top layer of soil is dry. When sowing thyme seeds early, you can get flowering plants already in the first year after planting. If you sow seeds at the usual time, the plants will flower the next year.
Cuttings. Cuttings are prepared from a creeping shoot by cutting off its green part. You can propagate thyme using this technology throughout the year. Creeping varieties small height can be propagated by preparing short cuttings (up to 5 cm). The easiest way to root them is by planting them in a container and covering them with a jar on top. You cannot water the plants too much, otherwise the risk of root rot increases. After 12-15 days have passed, the cuttings will form the first roots.
Dividing the bush. The old plant is dug up, carefully divided into parts, and the sections are planted in a previously prepared place.
Planting thyme
This crop needs to be grown in a warm, well-lit area; in the shade, thyme will develop slowly. It will successfully complement the surroundings of the pond in the garden, garden paths and an alpine slide. For growing, it is better to choose loose, light soil with a neutral or alkaline reaction.
Before planting plants you must:
IN autumn period dig up the area well, you need to remove the roots of weeds from their land;
Feed the soil with mineral and organic fertilizers; rotted manure or good compost will be in place;
In the second ten days of April, dig up the soil again, fence the area, and add 20 g/m2 of urea;
Sow seeds on the surface of the bed, covering them with a layer (1 cm) of river sand. It is advisable to sow in rows with row spacing of 40 cm;
Cover the top with film.
In the rows between individual plants, leave a free space of about 30 cm. For the emergence of friendly shoots, the optimal temperature is 20 degrees Celsius, then only two weeks will pass between sowing the seeds and the appearance of the first shoots. Thyme develops slowly and its seeds are small, for this reason, when propagating this crop, it is better to use the seedling method.
Sowing thyme seeds for seedlings is carried out in the second ten days of March. The seeds are not buried in the soil (since they are very small), but are scattered evenly over the surface and covered with sand;
The required age of seedlings for transplanting to a garden bed is 70 days;
Thyme grows well in areas where vegetables previously grew, but keep in mind that this crop grows in one place for about 5 years.
Thyme care
At first, thyme needs to be loosened and weeded. Water the planted plants, but do not flood them. Thyme is well tolerated low temperatures, but for insurance in harsh winters you can cover it with fallen leaves. After cutting the greenery, it is advisable to feed the area with azophoska. Thyme that has been growing for more than two years needs to be fed with a mixture of mineral fertilizers and a two-week infusion of mullein. If you cut the greens down to the woody parts, the bushes will become denser and more compact.
Attention! Thyme does not tolerate fresh manure well.
It’s good if you feed the plants with a small dose of horn flour and high-quality compost.
Important care operations:
IN spring period and after the thyme has faded, trim the bushes lightly, this will make them denser in appearance and give them beautiful shape. The stems need to be cut down to the woody parts, the length is about 2/3 of the length of the shoot;
Plants develop well in dried soil, but still during drought it is necessary to water them occasionally;
This crop is unique in that it is not afraid of pests and practically does not get sick.
Thyme harvest
Traditionally, this herb is collected on Trinity Sunday.
Traditional healers say that during this period the plants are most effective.
The raw materials are cut during flowering; for this purpose, well-leafed shoots are cut.
Do not injure the bushes by picking or breaking them off. The bush can simply be accidentally pulled out of the soil.
→This herb is known to many. It grows almost everywhere, in fields and meadows. In fact, the thyme plant is just one of more than 400 members of the thyme genus, a subshrub with ascending, semi-recumbent and erect woody stems.
Thyme: types and varieties
Thanks to its unpretentiousness and adaptability, thyme grows in Europe, America, Asia and northern Africa. Most common only 3 types:
- creeping thyme - in fact, it is this species that is usually called thyme, a lodging perennial subshrub. The stems are numerous, thin, creeping, take root easily, and with age become lignified at the base, forming ascending or erect flowering shoots that can reach up to 20 cm in height. The leaves are small, opposite, oblong-oval, lanceolate or ovate, short-petiolate; with a magnifying glass you can see protruding, well-developed essential oil glands. Flowering occurs in June and July, the flowers are small, but abundant, violet-red, mauve or pinkish-blue, two-lipped, collected at the ends of the branches in capitate loose inflorescences. This species is extremely unpretentious, drought- and frost-resistant;
- common thyme is a low shrub, the height of the shoots reaches 15 cm. The leaves are small, with pubescence on the inside. Flowers can be light purple, white (Alba variety), deep red (Splendens variety). It is less frost-resistant than creeping thyme. They are actively used in landscape design dwarf varieties common thyme, for example, “Elfin” - without rising above 5 cm, one seedling forms a neat dense green “cushion” with a diameter of up to 15 cm;
- lemon thyme is a low-growing species, young leaves are ovoid, almost yellow in color, and become light green over time. Popular for its spicy aroma with a rich hint of lemon. Not frost-resistant, needs shelter for the winter. In order for the plant to be dense, with a mass of greenery, it must be trimmed periodically, removing old shoots.
Thyme: planting and care on the site
For planting thyme select sunny areas or with light partial shade, in the shade the shoots become sharply elongated and the bush loses its solidity. The plant prefers fertile, light, well-drained, non-acidic (or neutral) soil. When preparing a site for planting heavy soils When digging, it is recommended to add sand to improve the water permeability of the soil. In addition, the place where thyme grows must be protected from drafts.
Watering
Thyme is drought-resistant and does not tolerate stagnation of water - this leads to damage and rotting of the root system. Watering is moderate, exclusively during very dry periods, as well as in dry spring during the period of active growing season and preparation for flowering. To avoid stagnation on rainy days, the soil around the plant is mulched with fine gravel.
Top dressing
Thyme does not require intensive fertilizer. Before planting, you can add humus to the soil, then over the next year the plant will not need feeding. In subsequent years, fertilizing is carried out in late spring or early summer any liquid mineral fertilizer.
Trimming
Pruning is carried out in the spring, shortening developing shoots, and after flowering, removing drying inflorescences. Trim the shoot to the woody part, this is about 2/3 of the total length of the stem. Pruning allows you to maintain the shape of the plant and make it dense and monolithic.
Reproduction
Thyme is propagated by seeds, cuttings and dividing the bush. It should be noted that the plant can reproduce well and abundantly by self-sowing, so over time it will be necessary to limit the area of its growth.
Since thyme seeds are very small and will take almost a month to germinate, the area should be thoroughly cleared of weeds before sowing in the ground. After germination, young plants develop rather slowly and will require protection from weeds. That is why, when propagating from seeds, it is first better to grow seedlings in containers. At the beginning of March in soil mixture(equal parts of peat and sand) the seeds are sown, and the box is covered with glass on top until seedlings appear. The grown seedlings are planted in the ground.
In summer, thyme propagates well from green cuttings. The shoots take root well, so before flowering, cut off the tops of the stems, 8-10 cm long, and plant them in river sand, cover with film. During the day, the cuttings must be sprayed several times with a spray bottle. The roots appear on the 15-20th day, and after a month the finished seedlings can be planted on the site. Growing thyme in its first year involves regular weeding and loosening the soil (mulching) to prevent water from stagnating
When propagating by division, the bush is broken at the base, after which the small roots are carefully disassembled (untangled). The planted cuttings can be covered with a glass jar for a week for better rooting.
Diseases and pests
In the first year after planting, thyme should be regularly weeded, loosened and mulched to prevent water from stagnating - the young root is especially sensitive to oversaturation of the soil with moisture.
In general, pests almost never appear on thyme - the reason for this is the fragrant substances that it releases in large quantities. But still, if the rules of care are violated, thyme can be affected by the following pests:
- meadow moth - attacks leaves and stems; butterflies of this pest are especially active on warm nights. When signs of damage appear, the plant must be treated with insecticides;
- sand borer is a black beetle 7-10 mm long that infects the entire above-ground part of thyme. To combat it, poisoned baits are used;
- The weevil is a small (2-3 mm) black beetle that feeds on young greenery and shoots, as well as flower buds. The control method is similar to that against the sand slugger, plus treatment with insecticides;
- aphids are small (up to several millimeters) sedentary insects that attack stems and leaves. They die after treatment with insecticides.
Thyme in landscape design
Thyme is an excellent ground cover; its low-growing hybrids are very resistant to damage and are easily tolerated when walked on, so they can be a good alternative to a traditional grass lawn.
In order for thyme to have a lot of lush greenery, it must be cut more often and not allowed to bloom.
Thyme is often planted on alpine roller coaster, it looks good in mixboards or stone gardens, as well as as a green edging for the borders of paths and flower beds.
Because of its fragrant aroma, thyme is good to plant near gazebos or garden benches.
Thyme: planting and care at home
Thyme tolerates cultivation at home quite well, so in the fall and winter you can always have a sprig of fresh aromatic seasoning on hand. For planting, you can use cactus soil. Thyme seeds can be sown in spring, but better in autumn take a bush from the garden, divide it and plant it in a container. In this case, the pot is chosen quite a bit wider than the roots of the plant. It is very important to ensure good drainage, because thyme does not tolerate waterlogging.
In order for thyme to grow and develop normally, it needs to be provided with the maximum possible amount of light, so it is installed on the southern, brightest window. Otherwise, the thyme will stretch upward without forming a dense bush with lush greenery.
Thyme in the home medicine cabinet
Before the advent of antibiotics, the oil obtained from common thyme was a powerful antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial agent. Thyme contains caffeic, quinic, oleic, chlorogenic, ursulic and oleanolic acids, fats, gum, flavonoids, vitamin C and many mineral salts. Thyme tea and various infusions help with various diseases (cough, bronchitis, whooping cough, reduces blood pressure and stimulates blood circulation), and are used as an immune stimulant and a general tonic. In addition, thyme is considered an aphrodisiac.
In cooking, thyme is used as a spice and seasoning, but more often it is part of various spicy mixtures.
If dried thyme Sew it into a bag and place it in a closet; it will reliably protect things from moths.
A description of thyme can be found in any botanical encyclopedia. This herb is widely known for its healing properties and possibilities for use in cooking. Tea with thyme is healthy and very tasty. It's easy to prepare. And it gives a lot: a boost of strength, peace of mind, a reduction in the influence of stress. You can learn about growing thyme and caring for the plant in your garden on this page. Further in the material a description of thyme is offered, accompanied by a large number of illustrations. You will learn about why thyme and thyme are the same thing, and how you can use the herb in folk medicine and cooking. Growing thyme in the garden and caring for it is not particularly difficult even for a novice gardener. Timely weeding, cutting and application of organic fertilizers are the basic principles of agricultural technology.
Thyme and thyme are the same thing (with photo)
Family Lamiaceae (Lamiaceae).
Thyme and thyme are a large genus of plants from the Lamiaceae family, numbering several hundred species that grow throughout almost all of Eurasia, in North Africa, North America, in the Caucasus, in some regions of Western and Eastern Siberia, on the Canary Islands and even in Greenland. Their center of origin is the Mediterranean.
Found in the European part of Russia and Siberia. Grows in elevated areas with dry, well-drained soils, on rocks, in rocky steppes, and in steppe meadows.
There are several versions of the origin of the generic name "thymus". According to one, it comes from the word “thymos”, which means “strength”, “courage”. According to another version, as Carl Linnaeus points out in his “Philosophy of Botany”, this name was given by the ancient Greeks according to therapeutic effect plants – “breath of life”, “spirit”.
According to the third version, the generic name is associated with the word “thyo” - “to make sacrifices”, since creeping thyme is the oldest cult plant, and many peoples had a custom of burning it in temples and on altars to obtain fragrant smoke (incense).
In Russia, creeping thyme is often called Bogorodskaya or Mother of God herb. This is due to the custom on the day of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary to decorate her icons with fragrant bunches of thyme.
Almost all thymes are fragrant low shrubs, often with recumbent woody stems and herbaceous flowering shoots. The most famous are two of them - common thyme with erect stems and creeping thyme, or Bogorodskaya herb.
The fact that thyme and thyme are one and the same can be seen in the photo, which shows plant samples in different phases of vegetative development:
Description of the thyme plant (with photo)
Let's begin the description of the thyme plant with the fact that it is a perennial evergreen subshrub, growing up to 20 cm in height, with a branched stem creeping along the ground and erect flowering branches. The root is taproot, branched. The stem is erect or ascending, woody in the lower part, highly branched, up to 30–40 cm high.
The leaves are small (length 5–10 mm), short-petioled, opposite, with inwardly curved edges, dotted with pinpoint essential oil glands on both sides, leathery, dark green above, grayish-green below, elliptical and entire.
Flower coloring different types and varieties of thyme can be white, pink, red, purple. Small flowers collected in axillary false whorls forming a discontinuous capitate inflorescence on ascending shoots up to 15 cm high. The fruit consists of four nuts enclosed in the remaining calyx.
The nuts are 0.7–0.9 mm in diameter, almost round, grayish or brownish brown. The weight of 1000 seeds is 0.3 g.
Look at the thyme plant in the photo, which shows the different stages of its development:
Types of thyme (with photo)
Flea thyme ( Thymus pulegioides) is a slightly branched plant up to 30 cm high, the partially woody stems of which are covered with small rounded leaves. Flowering stems are erect, pubescent, tetrahedral. These thyme species bloom in midsummer with lilac-pink flowers that form compact capitate inflorescences.
Mediterranean Marshall Thyme ( Thymus marshallianus) , starting from the end of spring until the end of summer, it blooms with pink-violet flowers in elongated spike-shaped inflorescences. Linear leaves cover stems 20–40 cm high. The species prefers calcareous soil.
Flowering stems of creeping early thyme ( Thymus praecox) slightly pubescent and covered with leaves, the size of which gradually increases from the base to the top of the stem. The flowers are bright purple, in capitate inflorescences; bloom in late spring. Plant height – 2-15 cm.
Creeping thyme – T hymus serpyllum. The height of the thyme “mat” is 2–8 cm. Thyme blooms profusely from May to July, less actively until autumn, and sometimes blooms a second time. The flowers are pink, purple, and white. Thyme is the main plant of the “spicy” hill. Refers to spicy and medicinal herbs, has extremely fragrant leaves and flowers. It is used as a seasoning meat dishes, in sauces, added to tea. This plant has many uses in medicine. Thyme is especially popular as a cough remedy.
IN last years Many varieties and hybrids of thyme have been obtained with different colors and shades of leaves (green, variegated):
Green-white, green-yellow
And flowers:
“Pink Chintz” – pink
"Albus" or "Alba" - white
"Donne Valley" - light purple
"Coccineus" - red and etc.
Dwarf low-growing variety " Aelphin» only 3–5 cm high, it forms a dense, compact pillow with a diameter of 10–15 cm. By combining colors, you can get unusually spectacular pictures.
Look at the types of thyme in the photo, which shows the distinctive features:
Growing thyme from seeds: care and suitable conditions
Thyme is a plant that is quite popular among gardeners who specialize in creating rock gardens. Bush thymes are usually planted in small groups among stones, creeping types - along the edges of terraces, on top of large boulders and between stone slabs garden paths.
Picking up suitable conditions growing thyme, you need to know that this plant prefers a sunny or slightly shaded place with light, well-drained soil, preferably sandy.
They grow it on the lungs fertile soils, and better through seedlings. Areas with high standing heavy clay soil completely unsuitable for them; plants suffer from prolonged stagnant moisture. The best predecessors for thyme are garden plot are cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers and onions.
The plant easily tolerates drought and prefers slightly moderate watering.
Thyme does not tolerate severe frosts.
Caring for thyme consists of thoroughly clearing weeds, loosening the soil between the rows and fertilizing mineral fertilizers. For seed purposes, thyme is harvested from the second year of the growing season. The harvest is harvested in phase mass flowering, starting from the second year of life, in dry weather.
The first cutting of the above-ground mass is carried out in June, the second in September - October.
You can plant thyme for growing from seeds at any time - the plants are unpretentious and drought-resistant, but not late autumn, since the plants must take root well before frost. There is no need to fertilize the plants, best case scenario You can add a little ripe compost or horn meal to the soil. If thyme bushes are regularly pruned, they will be dense and compact. Do this in early spring or after flowering. The shoots are shortened by about two-thirds - to the lignified part.
Thyme propagation
Thyme can be propagated by seeds, cuttings and dividing the bush. Thyme is sown in early spring in a nursery to a depth of 0.5 cm. The seeds are very small, so they are sown superficially, no deeper than 1 cm. They can be sown both in spring in open ground and late in autumn under snow. For seed germination you need high humidity soil. Small shoots appear after 2–4 weeks and at first develop very slowly.
With sufficient humidity and a temperature of +18–20 °C, seedlings appear on the 7-10th day. Thyme seeds are small and the seedlings are hard to see, so you need to carefully monitor their development, not allowing weeds to choke out the seedlings. At the age of 2 months, the seedlings form compact bushes and are suitable for planting on permanent place. Plants bloom in most cases in the 2nd year.
The easiest way to propagate thyme is by dividing the bush. To do this, the bush is dug up and carefully cut into pieces. The branches spreading along the ground are separated during the entire growing season and planted immediately in a permanent place or separately for growing.
Cuttings are carried out from spring to mid-summer, cutting young shoots 3–5 cm long and rooting them in greenhouses or under glass jars. It is important to avoid overwatering, otherwise the cuttings will rot. They take root perfectly in 2-3 weeks.
Thyme pruning
Trim it to at least a third of its height to keep the bush compact. Pruning also prevents self-seeding, stimulates branching, and has a beneficial effect on flowering. Creeping thyme is pruned in late autumn, since after flowering the heads of the inflorescences remain decorative for a long time.
After pruning, the thyme seems to dry out for a while. However, after about 2 weeks, new leaves appear on it.
Thyme early, false pubescent, dwarf, Doflera and others low-growing varieties and thyme forms are not trimmed.
Flowers are pruned according to the same rules as trees and shrubs. Using a sharpened pruner or garden knife, make an oblique cut located at a distance of about 0.5 cm from the last bud, which is left on the plant.
Harvesting.
The plant blooms in May-June, bears fruit in July-August. The harvest is harvested at the beginning of the period of mass flowering, starting from the 2nd year of the plant’s life. The first cutting (10–15 cm from the soil surface) of the above-ground mass is carried out in June, the second - in September-October. When harvesting, raw materials are dried in a dryer, in a well-ventilated area or in the shade under a canopy.
Gardening advice! Thyme seeds are collected from plants in the 2nd and 3rd years of the growing season. Thyme can be grown in the same place for 3–5 years. In winter, thyme plantings are mulched with peat or fallen leaves.
Use of thyme herb in cooking
Thyme has been known since ancient times and is grown in many countries in Europe, North America and North Africa for its essential oil, which has strong antiseptic properties.
The herb thyme is used due to the fact that it contains 0.6% -1.0% essential oil. Tannins and coloring substances, bitterness, gum, quinic, caffeic, ursulic, chlorogenic, oleic and oleanolic acids, flavonoids, resins, fats, a large number of mineral salts, vitamin C. An inconspicuous plant belongs to the category of aphrodisiacs.
The use of thyme in cooking is due to its taste and aromatic qualities. In dry form, it is added to teas, soups, and main courses.
Use of thyme herb in cooking
Speaking about the use of thyme herb, it is worth understanding that it is widely used as a seasoning and spice; it can be added to food as an independent seasoning, but more often it is part of mixtures. Thyme is a wonderful addition to tea and in the production of aromatic alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Use of thyme in cooking: leaves and young shoots, which have a strong, pleasant aroma, used in the preparation of salads and used as a spice for vegetable, fish and meat dishes, as well as game dishes. When pickled, thyme gives vegetables a unique flavor. The aroma of thyme lasts for a long time when dried.
Methods of using thyme in medicine
Infusions and decoctions of thyme are widely used to treat various diseases, as a general tonic and a powerful immune stimulant. Exist various ways uses of thyme in folk medicine and some of them can be found further in the material.
If you hang a cloth bag of thyme in your apartment, they will disappear from thin air. harmful microorganisms and chemical pollutants. Their place will be taken by the beneficial and fragrant phytoncides of thyme. And if you put clothes in the closet with them, it repels moths.
In Ukraine, thyme is considered the holy herb of the Virgin Mary. On the day of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, bunches of this grass decorated her icons. Thyme was sewn into amulet and worn around the neck to protect against evil spirits. The ancient Russians said about thyme: “It is more precious than gold and is associated with all ailments.”
Fresh thyme leaves contain 0.3–0.5% essential oil, which includes thymol and corvalol, borneol, which have strong antiseptic properties. Except essential oils Thyme greens contain tannins and flavonoids, mineral salts and organic acids.
In folk medicine, fresh and dried thyme leaves are used for respiratory diseases, whooping cough, as an expectorant, and as a sedative for nervous system disorders.