The solution? Contain it.
Dig a hole big enough for a large flower pot. Because of my cold climate, I recycled an old plastic clay colored pot because the actual clay pots will crack with the weather extremes.
Next, sink the pot in the ground and fill it with potting soil or good quality soil and amendments. Mint grows well in a semi-shaded area. I'm adding this pot to my medicinal/kitchen herb garden just outside my kitchen.
Plant your mint directly in the pot. This will allow your mint to grow where you want it in the flower bed, but without the roots spreading beyond the borders of the actual pot. Note that I kept the top of the pot well above ground level so that the runners won't "jump the fence". Soon this will fill in beautifully and should last for years while staying tame.
To start more mint plants, just cut a stem of mint, place it in water for a few days and it will begin to send out small roots. When you have quite a few new roots, transfer it to potting soil and you have a new plant. (Sorry, I took a picture of this, but can't find it!).
There are so many wonderful varieties of mint; peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, pineapple mint, apple mint, ...
Mint tea... I can hardly wait!
GREAT tip. I also love mint, but I have not grown it for the last time I did it almost took over the whole flower bed. I will try this. Thanks
ReplyDeletei'd heard of this, great to have a clear picture! do you need to plug the drainage first? or best not to? x
ReplyDeleteHello Amy,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the useful gardening tips. I am going to cut a few pieces of my mint off today and let it sprout. Happy gardening.
Smiles, Paula
I love my mint, too. Unfortunately, I didn't take into account it's invasive nature when I planted it in my herb garden and are now dealing with runners everywhere. Another herb that I have found to be so aggressive that it makes mint look like a kitten is lemon balm. I didn't know anything about it when I planted it in the front yard bed - just that it was an herb that my son wanted to try. The first two years it remained a perennial bush. Then, my husband uprooted it in the fall thinking that it was the mint. This year it is coming up absolutely EVERYWHERE. It's taking over the herb bed, coming up in the driveway cracks and now we're finding it in the back yard! I have no idea how it's spreading like that - but it's absolutely crazy. Lesson learned; do much more research before planting new herbs.
ReplyDeleteLooks great ! I am not a fan of mint ! My mum grew it on the farm and would make mint sauce for our roast lamb ! Have a great day !
ReplyDeleteThis is very clever! I haven't grown mint in my garden, but have thought of trying some!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the idea!
I still have mint that came from my grandmothers house, she's gone but that mint will keep on living. How fun is it that there is chocolate mint?!
ReplyDeleteWe found out the hard way just how invasive mint is.....it is trying to take over my sunflower bed. :O) We tried to dig it up but never seem to get it all so it keeps coming back every year.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that I tried to buy peppermint. This one smells more like a cross between peppermint and spearmint. I have no clue what to use it for!
Thank you so much for sharing this! My husband just built me raised beds for my herbs. I've been wanting to plant my mint, but concerned about it taking over the bed. I love this idea!
ReplyDeleteI agree...I made the mistake of planting mint several years ago and i still have to pull a lot of it out every year!!!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how you have multiple pictures in your header. I have tried to do that on blogger but haven't been able to figure it out!!
I grow my mint in a pot for the same reason: it's invasive! BUT I never thought about sinking my pot in the ground. How clever!
ReplyDeleteElisa, I didn't plug the holes, but the pot I used was VERY deep and I don't recall seeing mint runners going that far down. They usually stay closer to the surface. I hope I don't regret that decision!
ReplyDeletePam, I think Lemon Balm spreads by seeds - very small ones! I planted Lemon Balm in my window box and it is now sprouting up EVERYwhere in my garden below the box. I'm even finding some on the other side of the house, coming up in small amounts. While it's easier to pull out, I think it spreads further and faster!
I think I will go out and get some mint to plant....mint tea sounds delicious!!! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWon't the plant need to be trimmed often to keep all growing bits within the bounds of the pot?
ReplyDeleteMint is one of my favorite herbs as well. I make a really good sweet mint tea by steeping mint leaves in hot water with the tea bags for a while, then adding the juice of a whole lemon and some sugar. Yummy!!
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what I did this year, too! Hoping for a good year for my mint and many years to follow! :)
ReplyDeleteWe love mint and have all of ours contained! Great tip on sprouting new plants though! Thanks for a great post.
ReplyDeleteI planted spearmint in the small bed next to the steps to my front deck, under my gardenia. The bed has rock edging, so I'm hoping it will stay put. So far I've used it to make a delicious mint simple syrup that I add to my tea, both hot and cold. It's delicious and smells so good.
ReplyDeleteMaybelline, I've only seen the runners stay close to the surface of the soil, but I appreciate your tip and I'll be watching to see if it grows over the edge. If it does, I'll have to be on top of it quick!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tip and one I'll be sure to follow. Orange mint is my favorite. It has a lovely lavender tone and is delicious steeped in water - hot and cold.
ReplyDeleteHave you made mint jelly? It goes great with lamb and gamey meats and it's super simple. My husband loves it.
ReplyDeleteI have heard to use a empty coffee baried to contain mint. I have three different mints I don't want mixed so I plan on trying that to keep the pots for other things.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for an invasive plant. I love growing mint. Started growing chocolate mint last year and the tea is so delicious.
ReplyDeleteThat's I great idea! I certaintly learned my lesson about letting mint run wild several yrs ago. Now I keep my one plant contained in an old wheel barrel.
ReplyDeleteI used to put my mint in pots in the spring and keep them by the door. In the late fall I'd stick it in the ground. It never had a chance to spread. This year I'm keeping it contained in an iron wheel. I love to dry the leaves, crush them, and put them in with my coffee grounds. Yumm!
ReplyDeleteAHA!!! Brilliant, I tell you, simple BRILLIANT!
ReplyDeleteWe moved into this old house 4 years ago, and there is this "purple stuff" that is sprouting up everythere: in the front bed, in the yard -- everywhere!
Soon after we moved in, a friend took some and we both thought it had a licorice smell to it, but it has the distinctive mint stem....and the reputation for being the life of the yard party...
I am pulling those guys out All. The. Time.
hahahaha -- now I know how to tame the beasts, er, I mean, herbs!
What a wonderful idea! I love my mint plants, they are contained in a window type box on my deck. I am happy to find out about how to root new plants. Thanks
ReplyDeleteDeb~
Mint would be a great addition to our herb garden except for the fact that I'm terribly allergic to it.
ReplyDeleteIs one little pot enough for tea all summer? I planted some in a raised bed (2.5'x8') hoping it would take over the bed by the end of summer so we could make tea every other day or so. One section is full now (2.5'x2') and we had our first batch of sweet tea made from mint julip. It was wonderful! I can hardly wait for the plant to recover and make more leaves so we can make it regularly.
ReplyDeleteHeather
LOL!! Heather, I agree that one little pot is not nearly enough. What I didn't show in the photos were the other three pots that I have going and the ones I INTEND to start! And mint julip... yum!
ReplyDeleteI hate to admit that, I too, have planted mint in the herb garden, only to regret it!! It really is hard to get rid of!!! Most of it is gone now, but every once in a while I'll see a new little plant trying to start, urggg!
ReplyDeleteLesson learned~the hard way!!!
Shalom,
Moira
Sarah Beth, you can do that by pasting all the pics together into one picture with a graphics program, saving it as one picture and using that. (My daughter's name is Sarah Beth, exactly the same :-) I had to look at your picture just to make sure she hadn't moved and not told us! LOL! )
ReplyDeleteI love my mint, but have given it a place of it's own out in the field. I'm still digging up pieces growing around the garden and moving them out there. I made mint wine this year :-) have not tried it yet.
I like mint in coffee too. I have lemon mint, which I have dried for chicken and tea and I have a new choc mint for all kinds of things. I plan to root pieces and make more plants.
I think I'm going to move the lemon mint into the field too...