Q I want to grow thyme in my garden path, but all the ones I see for sale say they will be bushes. I thought thyme was flat?
D. Connor, Dover
A Some thymes are bushy, some pancakes; among paving you need the pancakes. The low-growing one is Thymus serpyllum. For a really smooth pancake, try “Elfin”, though it’s not much of a flowerer. The variety coccineus has good, crimson-pink flowers. But the taller thymes are better for cooking; varieties of Thymus x citriodorus and vulgaris. They tend to make little bushes that pull to the light and go bald on the shady side, so clip them from time to time after flowering, giving soft young shoots for salads. Thyme needs a light soil and you can divide the mats of the creeping varieties with a fork and secateurs in spring and September.
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