Thyme · Ilford, England, United Kingdom
When to plant thyme in Ilford
Main outdoor window
14 Apr - 5 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
14 April
In Ilford, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
13 Jul - 12 Aug
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Ilford
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
17 Feb - 10 Mar
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Plant
14 Apr - 5 May
Around your last frost.
Harvest
13 Jul - 12 Aug
Thyme through the year
Against the frost risk in Ilford
Why these dates
Very slow from seed and best started indoors well ahead of the season, or simply bought as a plant.
Survives -18C. As with oregano, waterlogged winter soil is the real threat.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Thyme are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 0 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Ilford.
Growing thyme in Ilford
When should I plant thyme in Ilford?
Aim for 14 Apr - 5 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 5-26 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will thyme be ready to harvest in Ilford?
Expect to start picking around 13 Jul - 12 Aug, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will thyme tolerate?
Survives -18C. As with oregano, waterlogged winter soil is the real threat.