Pruning Thyme

Thyme benefits from light pruning twice a year to maintain a compact, bushy shape and prevent the plant from becoming woody and leggy. Prune in April and again in August, using clean, sharp secateurs or garden shears. In April, as new growth begins to emerge, trim back the previous year's growth by about one-third. Cut just above fresh green shoots, avoiding cutting into old, bare, woody stems, as thyme is reluctant to regenerate from very old wood. This spring prune encourages dense, leafy growth and helps the plant stay neat and productive throughout the growing season. The second prune in August should be lighter. After the main flowering period has finished, trim off the spent flower heads and the top few centimetres of soft growth. This tidies the plant, prevents it from self-seeding everywhere, and stimulates a fresh flush of aromatic foliage before autumn. Again, avoid cutting back hard into woody stems. If you harvest thyme regularly for cooking throughout the growing season—particularly from May to September—you may find that pruning is less necessary, as picking naturally keeps the plant compact. However, even well-harvested plants benefit from a spring tidy-up. Neglected or very old thyme plants that have become sparse and woody in the centre are difficult to rejuvenate. If your thyme reaches this stage, it's often easier to replace it with a young plant or take softwood cuttings in early summer to propagate fresh stock.