A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 "thyme" to prune?

My thyme and greek oregano are starting to flower. Should it be cut back now or should I leave it alone? The thyme is still green but has a lot of dry brown areas underneath. We've been getting a lot of rain lately and wonder if this is the reason that it isn't looking so good. Thanks for any help.

Give 'em a good chop, mine love it! I cut into the woody part a little too, and that gets new growth going, and it's nice and compact then. HTH!

It is usually best to harvest herbs before they flower or if that time is missed, as soon as possible.

now, doesnt that figure!
I bought a thyme plant from a nursery in town, (my first of course ) that was already flowering.the guy who sold it to me never told me to cut it back or even cut the flowers off. when he showed it to my kids and I, he let us taste the flowers and told us theyre good on salad...blah,blah,blah.
so we all assumed they should be there.=(

I did not get to mine before the flowered either...oops

I clipped about half of mine because I wanted to see the flowers and was looking to see how they went to seed.

boy,have I gone and done it,I have been on an herb buying rampage!

well, ok,3 new thyme and one new basil?in 2 days!!
I love the creepers, they are so pretty.
Question is,do they flower too?
I got pink chintz thyme,lemon of some kind that only gets 1 foot tall and has long branches(thyme),white creeping thyme,and a dwarf. basil?

Enjoy the thyme blossoms then cut it back at least in half. Always remember, when you prune your herbs back, you likewise prune your watering as well.

ty,Jimmy! never thought of it that way,but it makes sense.
what about if I don't get blooms this year,do I still cut 'em back? most seem pretty young.does that matter?

ps...I'm kinda new to herbs

Mrs Bradley...welcome to the JOY of herbs...I LOVE them!!!
You do not have to wait till they bloom to cut them back...if you cut them back some they will bush out more and be beautiful. I am cutting mine constantly because I use a lot of herbs in my cooking....so when ever I cook, out to the herb garden I go! I get pretty aggresive cutting my basil & Rosemary because I always dry some to keep in the house...I LOVE dried Rosemary and basil to cook with.
This is the first time in years I have let my basil bloom...and only because I haven't been cooking as much this past month because of illness. I have never had blooms on my Rosemary bushes...I just use too much of it.
Hope you have as much fun with your herbs as I do...

~V~