Growing And Taming Mint

Mint is a staple in my herb garden. It is such a versatile  plant.  

It smells fresh and tastes even better! My favorite way to use mint it to put a couple of springs in my water. YUMMY!

Here's some tips to help you grow and tame the invasive mint...

When I pick flowers I usually tuck a little mint in my arrangements. Flower's abound indoors too at StoneGable. Here are some of the fruits of my early morning stroll to the garden. Can you see how pretty the mint looks. Too bad you can't smell it!

Mint is the smell of fresh... and clean ... and sweet! Just rub a mint leave between your fingers and that fabulous familiar fragrance wafts through the air.

For me, it brings back memories of my childhood. Mint grew in wild abandon at the side of my grandmother's home. When the windows were open the whole kitchen would fill up with the smell of mint! Glorious!

Now for the down side... and there is definitely a down side! 

Mint is invasive! It is bossy and pushy. It doesn't like to live with other plants. I learned about it's bad behavior the hard way!!!! I planted mint in a perenial bed in my previous home and it took over the bed and side of the hill!  Mint puts out roots called "runners" and they eventually form leaves and make another plant. And they are prolific!  It took 3 years of weeding and digging to get rid of this nuisance!

When I moved into StoneGable I did not plant mint. But I missed having it as part of my summer herbs!

One summer I planted several varieties of mint in big pots and put them on my patio. They did beautifully. It was like putting an unruly child in a playpen!

It wasn't long before I thought to sink a terracotta pot in the ground to contain the roots from spreading. This was not an original idea, gardeners have long been containing mint this way. And it worked too!

If you don't have mint in your garden  I hope you will try this technique! It's so easy! They are hardy plants that, once contained, live perfectly happily planted with other herbs or flowers.

Planting Mint:

Choose a pot at least 4 times bigger than your mint- it will fill in the pot in no time and you don't want to repot each year.

Dig a hole bigger than the terracotta pot.

The pot's rim should be above ground level when potted.

Put the terracotta pot into the hole and backfill hole with dirt.

Put a flat stone to cover the bottom hole in the pot amd partially fill the bottom of the pot with potting soil.

Plant mint in pot and fill in with potting soil.

Water in well.

Mint will grow vigorously and can be cut often.  As it starts to flower,  pinch off the flower tops. It will last all summer long! And it will stay in it's own little space!

And when it has given you it's best, it will quietly retire for the winter. But, be looking the next spring~ mint will wake up and be more beautiful than the year before!

Just make sure you dig up you pot and check it out for any cracks. If you pot is cracked the mint will start to stray into the rest of your garden!

When your mint gets too big it can easily be divided!