How to prune lemon thyme

Immediately after flowering, typically mid-to-late summer. After flowers fade, trim back the soft, leafy growth by up to one-third with scissors or garden shears. Avoid cutting below the lowest green leaves into brown woody stems, as thyme does not reliably regenerate from old wood.

Once annually after flowering; light harvest-trimming throughout the growing season is fine. Lemon Thyme becomes woody and sparse if never pruned. Trim it lightly after flowering each year to keep the mound compact and stimulate fresh leafy shoots. Never cut back into hard, bare, old wood — it rarely regrows from there. Light annual shearing is all that is needed for a long-lived, bushy plant.

After flowers fade, trim back the soft, leafy growth by up to one-third with scissors or garden shears. Avoid cutting below the lowest green leaves into brown woody stems, as thyme does not reliably regenerate from old wood.