Are there any tricks to growing mint?
The main thing you need to know about mint is that unless you do something to restrict its growth, the plant will quickly take over your garden. It not only spreads uncontrollably, it smothers other plants and becomes entangled with them, making the mint virtually impossible to eradicate and your other plants difficult to save.
To stop your mint from doing anything diabolical, you need to sink a barrier of some sort in the ground before you plant it. That barrier needs to completely surround the plant. It also needs to penetrate the soil to a depth of about a foot. And it’s wise to make sure that the barrier is made from something that won’t readily biodegrade, such as concrete, plastic or steel. A wood barrier will only cause you headaches in the long run. As it breakdown, the mint will break through and you’ll wind up with the same problems you would’ve had if you hadn’t used a barrier at all.
Mint grows best when it’s planted in moist soil and partial shade, but that doesn’t mean you have to grow it in these conditions. Many gardeners don’t, and not necessarily because they don’t know what the ideal growing conditions are. No, grown in clay soil under direct sun, your mint will survive, but it won’t be as lush as it would be under ideal conditions and that makes its spread is easier to control.
There have been times when I’ve grown mint under ideal conditions and there have been other times when I’ve subjected it to drought stress. Either way, I get all the leaves I need for tea and cooking each year. The only noticeable difference is that mint grown under harsh conditions tends to be more pungent.
The only caution I can think of when growing mint is to keep the amount of manure you use on or near it to a minimum. Mint is prone to rust and adding manure to the soil only increases the chances it will become infected.
Other than that, you should have no problems.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
Posted: May 6, 2011
