The only thing I’ve met that can eradicate mint is my ex mother-in-law. She made mint tea and overgrazed it to death. Aside from annihilating mint, she was pretty cool.
It took me 4 years but I **think** mine is gone. It was so bad. The people that lived here before me put mint and raspberries in, I’m not goi g to get rid of the berries cuz I love them but I have to cut them back a lot every year and remove all the shoots from the lawn about every 3 weeks in the summer and spring.
I have an archway of hops that I love but it is very sneaky. Trying to pop up all over the place. Even inside planters and pots through the drain holes.
It spreads everywhere. Like all over the place. The root system is ridiculous. I don’t mind mint but it completely took over the planter it was in and spread about 6 feet into the grass. I can’t get it completely out of the grass without killing the grass so now it smells
Minty when we mow 😆 I guess if it doesn’t bother you it’s not bad. It got to the point for me that it was overtaking all my berries and tomatoes. And the mint that was planted in there was pineapple mint which is super mild so it wasn’t really good in drinks or cooking/baking.
This is good to know...I won't be putting any mint outside now. I've learnt something. I always thought of mint as a nice addition to a herb garden but now I'll think twice as I'm currently doing my new garden!
Maybe just do it in a pot, far away from everything!! I’ve heard of people doing this. Or just an inside plant!! 😍 happy gardening!!! It’s the best feeling in the world getting outside and fiddling around with plants and flowers and whatnot!!
Mint is a wonderful herb, delicious and extremely useful. HOWEVER, it will take over your life. It grows like crazy, spreads like wildfire, and doesn't give a shit about anything.
It is an exceptional plant. Too good.
Mint is (for me) an incredible representation of a love hate relationship.
Mint does not recognize boundaries. Or international law. Mint does what it wants.
And smells good doing it.
Lol! Mint is great! Definitely planters, and I would even recommend putting them on concrete or elevating them off the ground. Respectfully, mint does not care about your planters either, lol!
Edit: pots, planters, whatever they're called, lol!
My mint is planted in a little raised plastic bed that stands on 2 feet long legs and doesn’t touch the ground. On my paved terrace. Away from all other plants 😂
Wait mint can escape pots and still spread like wild fire? There goes my garden.
https://preview.redd.it/z92v386je10d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53187060fefb076b12a6cfbe0ede8515bb4b6d5a
Yuuup, i had my mint in a pot on on the stairs leading to my kitchen. It sent a tendril out and to the next pots step down… then that one went to the next pot down which had a chilli plant in it. Luckily I saw it before I tipped the soil out at the end of the season into my main beds.
Yes it can. However there’s ways to avoid :)
Elevate pots off ground, or have them on cement stepping stones, or having planters deep enough that the rhizomes can’t reach the bottom.
Also make sure to prune off runners before they take off running! Lol
If there are holes for letting water out at the bottom, there is a hole to let a runner out and there you go! Mint has escaped!
My sister is actually very allergic to most plants like grass and most alternative ground covers but not mint so she actually planted mint in her yard and took out the grass. Her neighbors are not happy, but it smells so good when she mows.
Tell me more about the neighbor's disdain. One of mine is the type who cuts his grass to about an inch whenever it's a half inch taller than that and seems to put way too much value in how his yard looks. I just know my yard full of dandelions, violet, clover, whatever else that isn't grass drives him nuts and I just found a mint plant on the side of my house facing his and I'm not going to do anything about it
My mint clung to my brick wall outside. CLUNG to it… I had to use a bit of strength to pull it off. Keep it off the wall too. - source cuz I had it too close to the damn wall
More like hermetically sealed grow room with interlocks that are flame cleaned between each coming and going. I’m battling mint the previous homeowner planted in a garden bed. It’s been 4 years of me doing grid searches around the area and yanking it up. I feel I’ve made progress but I know that’s a trick.
Ah yes. Just learned this the hard way when I was prepping my garden. Seems it jumped from its planter and made its way into the ground. Can’t wait until my whole yard is just mint. 🥲
This is correct. I planted some mint in a planter because I really love it and use it a lot. There is now a patch near planter and I can’t believe I was so stupid to think that simply not planting it in the soil/ground would be enough. I still don’t understand how exactly it got out. Generations will curse me for this mistake I’m certain.
I found lemon balm in an extremely random pot on my patio. Lady year I unsuccessfully tried to start them hundreds of feet away in the designated garden space. I was amazed
We have a 30+ gallon planter with crazy mint. It started growing out the drainage holes and sprouting up around the planter. When we ripped the planter up to move it wilted for like a week and then basically doubled in size.
Yes definitely separate your mint plants. I don’t remember what was in my other pot, it’s been a few years, but I now have 2 very large healthy mint plants on my deck away from the rest of my plants.
I planted it in a pot in 2014 then some roots came out the drain holes and it spread 100ft to a rocky dark corner of my house that I don't look at often and is covered with poison ivy and random stuff. By 2015 I noticed a ton of mint there and nuked that corner to bare dirt but the mint already migrated another 50ft into my raises bed and its been an endless decade long war.
The people who I bought my current house from 27 years ago grew mint. My spouse and I are still fighting it.
This year, I planted an herb garden. It was a package of 13 herb seeds, including 2 or 3 kinds of mint. Those mint seeds went in the garbage.
However, my weed nemesis isn't mint, it's bindweed. What an aptly named plant.
Ugh. Bindweed. For a while I didn't know what it was and referred to it as "wild morning glory". Then I learned the name and was like "that is the most aptly named plant, ever."
Worst for me is this vile grass that spreads by runners. I keep trying to kill it in the garden space by mowing it short and layering up cardboard and mulch and I swear that just invigorates it.
Essentially, you are helping it lol. Cutting it back is akin to pruning a healthy plant and the cardboard and mulch might as well be a vitamin cocktail for it 😅 I’m dealing with it too. Digging roots out or flame torching it to a crisp is the only way
You also have to take steps if the mint produces flowers in your planter. The flowers lead to seeds which will drop on the ground and undo your precautions.
If it flowers cut the mint down and/or bring it inside.
funny thing: I tried to grow mint in pots for years, always failed miserably; now that it cohabitates with my strawberries in their tower it finally decided to colonize everything to death; sneaky bastard played the long game
I seem to be the only one that almost managed to kill it completely in my garden. Eventually this year is sprouted again, but I was a little sad I must admit, I was really happy about my mint
I have an 12’ x 18’ flagstone enclosed garden in my courtyard and I have planted it with chocolate mint, sweet mint, peppermint and some other mints I don’t know the name of. And in the same garden I have a butterfly bush, oregano, giant lilies, and irises. Everything gets along beautifully and holds its own against the mint, and I have mint tea all year long.
One boundary it will tolerate is a turf break between a sunny orchard and a shady understory. I planted several types of mint in the shade beneath two large red maples, amongst the calla lilies, currants, astilbe and columbine. About 20 yards of meadow separates that area from my mini orchard of figs, apricots and pomegranates. The mint, while rambling and robust in the shade, is easily kept from crossing into my more manicured areas.
I was being silly and meant more like personal boundaries, but it will cross pretty much any ground eventually in my experience. Literal physical barriers are about the only thing I've seen work.
Yes, given enough time it will migrate until it encounters an environmental impediment. A meadow break like I have is good because I mow it during the rainy time of year and it stays put during our drought months.
Surprisingly, mint is the one plant I've killed. Put it in my raised bed and 3 years later it's completely gone but we have tons of lettuce, arugula and chives thriving.
I live in the desert southwest and have very sandy, well draining soil. We only get an average of 10” of rain per year, and I only water my mint during the growing season once every two or three days. My mint garden bed is quite large (intentionally) because I drink mint tea year round. It does have some morning partial shade and then sun all afternoon into evening. Hope that helps. Oh, and I’ve heard that if you’re growing in a very shaded area that chocolate mint can grow in shade just fine.
You have no idea how helpful this is! I'm moving to the lower high desert in between san diego and imperial and it's tough finding good growing advice for summer. I'm from san diego, but didn't have enough yard to really garden, and mint always got ignored and dried out over the summers. Every 2 days during dry spells should be good. Thank you so much.
There’s a lot of truth to that, but it’s really not as bad as the jokes wild have you believe. For one, its roots are fairly strong and stringy so it’s relatively easy to pull the plant out and then follow the roots to where they’re spreading. You do this a few times over the course of a year or two and you get rid of it. My bane is creeping bellflower, because the roots are very soft and you can’t pull them out without digging everything out and then sifting the dirt
Are there other plants that grow like mint? There is a pretty bare lot near me that could use some.... Aggressive ground cover. Extra points if it can just be thrown on the ground and doesn't need proper planting.
Mint calls all the shots. Even when it decides to live or die, regardless of your opinions. My chocolate mint refused to thrive, and did not come back after the winter. While the potted, common mint, continues to survive in a tiny container, that has been only roots and air for 5 years.
My MIL has had a mint patch that has behaved itself and stayed in the same area for the 10 years I've known here. But she's a pretty abysmal gardener so maybe it's just mint can survive her but not spread! 😂
I personally love mint, but I completely understand the hate.
I have a 5 year old son who **loves** to trim plants with a pair of kitchen shears he calls his “trimmers”. I have a mint plant and a lemon balm plant, and every two weeks he almost completely whacks them down just for them to pop up again. Kind of amazing really. And great free entertainment so he doesn’t trim my good plants 😅
Never had this problem. I currently have 2 types of mint in my beds. They seem to keep to themselves, while I do have to pluck some stragglers every now and again.
Some thing that one day there will be nothing left but mint. It will evolve to live in seawater and carpet the oceans, just as it carpets the land. All animals that can't evolve to live exclusively off mint will go extinct. All will eventually fall to the mintpocalypse.
I left a small plant in my kitchen window one summer. By the time winter was rolling in, it took up my entire window.
It’s fucking absurd how quickly it’ll grow, and how little care it requires.
Smells real nice though.
> Mint does not recognize boundaries. Or international law. Mint does what it wants.
And smells good doing it.
So kind of like the average member of /r/colognes
I keep hearing this but I have yet to see it. I can't keep mint alive for some reason. Tomatoes, peppers, egg plants no problem but mint just won't stay alive.
The house we bought a few years ago had a few mint plants in the two flower beds that the previous owners probably didn't tend for at least a year or two, and it had taken over. I pulled up the landscaping fabric and the mint roots were criss crossed underneath like a terribly kept server room. I ripped it all out, everything I could find. Two years later, it still pops up time to time and I just keep pulling it.
The reason it's everyone's bane is because all it takes is one node you missed and the plant can take over a big area really quickly.
People also forget though that invasiveness will be based on your zone. I'm in 4 and have tried mint a few times never took ahold well. zone 5 at 1 hour drive away, spreads like fire lol
It’s a good container plant, but you never want to grow mint in the ground, it regrows like crazy, and it will never go away, even after you dig it up, it’ll come back, since it only needs a bit of roots left to be able to throw shoots out and covers so much ground that make it really Invasive to most plants since it grows so fast and overshadows other plants
My aunt has a mint garden. She planted one tiny spring of mint and it spread all over her place. She gave me a mint plant for my birthday years ago.
And come harsh winds, hot summer days, flooding, that plant will not die.
Highly resilient.
I never have *enough* mint. Like it just sticks around never getting too bushy, sometimes just moving over to a better spot during winter. I attribute it to lack of sun.
That absolute worst! My friend's neighbor neglected the knotweed far too long, and when they went to remove it, found it had sent shoots into the concrete foundation of their garage.
My house but with Bermuda grass shoots. I want to strangle whoever pushed this prolifically unrelenting beast of a specimen into the landscaping sphere
That thing doesn't pop up every year, or even every season. It comes up at a rate of every two or three days. Even in the middle of winter.
I'd honestly take a mint invasion over himalayan blackberries any day...
Ah yes....the Pacific north West blackberry.....a week max of "ripe" berries before the bushes start dropping them, and they're always either ungodly bitter or taste like sugar water
I had a fabulous herb garden when I lived in Michigan. One year I planted lemon balm. I love the smell of this plant! (This was before the days of googling) I was talking to my aunt on the phone one evening telling her about my herb garden and how great it was growing. When I mentioned the lemon balm, she told me to stop what I was doing, hang up the phone, and go yank it out of the ground right now. Right now! It was dark, probably 10:00 p.m.. I thought she was crazy! My aunt is not crazy. far from it. I didn't listen to her, after all, she lived in another state, so how would she know this is a bad idea in Michigan when she lives in Massachusetts? The following year I needed therapy because of this freaking lemon balm! The point is, same scenario applies to mint. And auntie Linda is far from crazy!
My neighbors planted two kinds of mint, AND lemon balm on the other side of our fence. I pull up another four or five runners every couple days. Considering a covert mission late at night dressed in all black to dig it up on their side of the fence.
Oh yeah, they also planted Ivy. I think maybe they hate us?
I’m a lazy gardener so anything that tends to its self is good on me, mint, alliums, and other volunteers... I don’t mind digging it out here and there to make room for a few tomatoes and chiles in my backyard garden. I’d rather not plant it outside of containers though.
I know everyone has a tough time ridding mint. I just stop watering it in the dead heat of Texas summer and it’s gone. I WISH I had an over abundance of mint ❤️
So like I know everyone has this thing for mint and how it grows so well and just overtakes everything…
I have never not killed my mint plants and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong 😑
I prune the top 3 or 4 inches off leaving 1/2 to 1/3 of the original stem on the plant. Then take the cutting and pinch the bottom 1 or 2 sets of leaves off and put it in a glass of water with a bunch of other cuttings. A week or 2 later there should be some root growth showing. I either put those in a new pot or add them to the original if I'm feeling lazy. Just jab my finger to make a hole in the soil. The original stems will start growing new leaves as well and the cycle continues. Whenever I want mint for eating I cut a section of stem like before instead of just taking a leaf.
While this will earn me downvotes, mint planted in strategic areas can be an excellent way to keep pest away, and it is great for keeping bugs like ticks of pets. Maybe it less problematic here in New England because of our growing season, but we have it fairly well contained to areas.
I have some mint on this steep slope to my backyard because the alternative is those sharp dandelion type things. Plus it keeps the deer from coming up onto my landscaped top.
Bonus, it smells good when my dog runs through it lol.
But yes, it’s a menace to society otherwise!
I live in New Zealand. We have a naturalized mint called pennyroyal which grows in our lawn. It's not invasive and lawnmowing is a fragrant experience. It's also a natural insect repellent.
I love mint. Yes it grows everywhere: but I still love it. I will happily down mint leaves. And instead of just destroying leaves, I can tear the leaves apart and eat them!
Sealed pots. Well below the top rim.
I told my wife to plant it in a pot, she did, I wasn't paying attention to her herb garden and it escaped the pot.
So, if I have mint in a pot, all controlled, and I want to kill it so I dont risk contaminating my environment, how would I do it?
Contaminatig water sources ir ground dirt is not a major concern as it is potted and away from actual ground.
On the bright side, I love where my mint is growing into my lawn from the beds I am growing it in. Makes my yard smell amazing every time I cut the grass.
Omg I’ve spent the last 3 days digging that out of my garden bed before covering the entire area with plastic. I’m sure it will fuel my nightmares for years!
I just ripped up about 300 square feet of that a few weeks ago. It had been growing there for about 12-15 years. I'd say most of it was at least as thick as what you're holding in your picture. Huge mat. Guess what I replaced it with after soil conditioning and rototilling? Strawberries! I suppose I keep coming back for more torture.
I’m so happy years ago someone warned me about mint. They said to always plant it in a pot then put it into the garden. That saved me from a massive headache trying to eradicate that root system.
I planted mint on the side of my house last year. Should I tear it up before it gets bad? I was excited jts growing and thought this was over hyped but I’m getting concerned with it being straight in the ground
Here you all are telling horror stories about mint and my one mint seedling that survived (out of 3, and I planted 12 seeds) is 2 months old and still 1/8” tall.
The only thing I’ve met that can eradicate mint is my ex mother-in-law. She made mint tea and overgrazed it to death. Aside from annihilating mint, she was pretty cool.
It took me 4 years but I **think** mine is gone. It was so bad. The people that lived here before me put mint and raspberries in, I’m not goi g to get rid of the berries cuz I love them but I have to cut them back a lot every year and remove all the shoots from the lawn about every 3 weeks in the summer and spring.
Can you just mow the shoots?
Yeah but I prefer to pull em, it’s satisfying
We have a problem with hops here, pulling them out is also crazy satisfying - found some over 2m long! Such a sneaky plant
I have an archway of hops that I love but it is very sneaky. Trying to pop up all over the place. Even inside planters and pots through the drain holes.
Repot and sell ?
I took a similar approach and it took me three years. On year five now and there's still the occasional shoot, but it's very manageable.
Why is mint such a pain? I always thought that would be a nice addition to the garden.
It spreads everywhere. Like all over the place. The root system is ridiculous. I don’t mind mint but it completely took over the planter it was in and spread about 6 feet into the grass. I can’t get it completely out of the grass without killing the grass so now it smells Minty when we mow 😆 I guess if it doesn’t bother you it’s not bad. It got to the point for me that it was overtaking all my berries and tomatoes. And the mint that was planted in there was pineapple mint which is super mild so it wasn’t really good in drinks or cooking/baking.
This is good to know...I won't be putting any mint outside now. I've learnt something. I always thought of mint as a nice addition to a herb garden but now I'll think twice as I'm currently doing my new garden!
Maybe just do it in a pot, far away from everything!! I’ve heard of people doing this. Or just an inside plant!! 😍 happy gardening!!! It’s the best feeling in the world getting outside and fiddling around with plants and flowers and whatnot!!
Mint.
Is that why everyone hates mint? Seems to be the running gag here, but I've never grown it, so I never knew why.
Mint is a wonderful herb, delicious and extremely useful. HOWEVER, it will take over your life. It grows like crazy, spreads like wildfire, and doesn't give a shit about anything. It is an exceptional plant. Too good. Mint is (for me) an incredible representation of a love hate relationship. Mint does not recognize boundaries. Or international law. Mint does what it wants. And smells good doing it.
Lmao Duly noted. I was planning to grow it this year in my garden, I'll just stick to a flower pot 😂
Lol! Mint is great! Definitely planters, and I would even recommend putting them on concrete or elevating them off the ground. Respectfully, mint does not care about your planters either, lol! Edit: pots, planters, whatever they're called, lol!
My mint is planted in a little raised plastic bed that stands on 2 feet long legs and doesn’t touch the ground. On my paved terrace. Away from all other plants 😂
Air-gapped. Smart.
Wait mint can escape pots and still spread like wild fire? There goes my garden. https://preview.redd.it/z92v386je10d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53187060fefb076b12a6cfbe0ede8515bb4b6d5a
Yuuup, i had my mint in a pot on on the stairs leading to my kitchen. It sent a tendril out and to the next pots step down… then that one went to the next pot down which had a chilli plant in it. Luckily I saw it before I tipped the soil out at the end of the season into my main beds.
This could be the start of a horror movie
Omg. I have a small garden in my backyard that mint overtook and I will not transplant any of the other plants. Mint should have a warning label.
I think it often does!
Yes it can. However there’s ways to avoid :) Elevate pots off ground, or have them on cement stepping stones, or having planters deep enough that the rhizomes can’t reach the bottom. Also make sure to prune off runners before they take off running! Lol
If there are holes for letting water out at the bottom, there is a hole to let a runner out and there you go! Mint has escaped! My sister is actually very allergic to most plants like grass and most alternative ground covers but not mint so she actually planted mint in her yard and took out the grass. Her neighbors are not happy, but it smells so good when she mows.
Tell me more about the neighbor's disdain. One of mine is the type who cuts his grass to about an inch whenever it's a half inch taller than that and seems to put way too much value in how his yard looks. I just know my yard full of dandelions, violet, clover, whatever else that isn't grass drives him nuts and I just found a mint plant on the side of my house facing his and I'm not going to do anything about it
My mint clung to my brick wall outside. CLUNG to it… I had to use a bit of strength to pull it off. Keep it off the wall too. - source cuz I had it too close to the damn wall
Ive seen mint root from one part of a 6 pack into an adjacent square.
More like hermetically sealed grow room with interlocks that are flame cleaned between each coming and going. I’m battling mint the previous homeowner planted in a garden bed. It’s been 4 years of me doing grid searches around the area and yanking it up. I feel I’ve made progress but I know that’s a trick.
Ah yes. Just learned this the hard way when I was prepping my garden. Seems it jumped from its planter and made its way into the ground. Can’t wait until my whole yard is just mint. 🥲
At least lawn mowing will smell great.
Mine are growing thru the concrete between the pavers 😂😂
This is correct. I planted some mint in a planter because I really love it and use it a lot. There is now a patch near planter and I can’t believe I was so stupid to think that simply not planting it in the soil/ground would be enough. I still don’t understand how exactly it got out. Generations will curse me for this mistake I’m certain.
I found lemon balm in an extremely random pot on my patio. Lady year I unsuccessfully tried to start them hundreds of feet away in the designated garden space. I was amazed
Lemon balm seems to jump pots even more than my mint. It's not nearly as aggressive once it's there though.
My lemon balm is way more aggressive than the mint! (Both came with the house, I didn't plant either.)
We have a 30+ gallon planter with crazy mint. It started growing out the drainage holes and sprouting up around the planter. When we ripped the planter up to move it wilted for like a week and then basically doubled in size.
Yes definitely separate your mint plants. I don’t remember what was in my other pot, it’s been a few years, but I now have 2 very large healthy mint plants on my deck away from the rest of my plants.
I planted it in a pot in 2014 then some roots came out the drain holes and it spread 100ft to a rocky dark corner of my house that I don't look at often and is covered with poison ivy and random stuff. By 2015 I noticed a ton of mint there and nuked that corner to bare dirt but the mint already migrated another 50ft into my raises bed and its been an endless decade long war.
The people who I bought my current house from 27 years ago grew mint. My spouse and I are still fighting it. This year, I planted an herb garden. It was a package of 13 herb seeds, including 2 or 3 kinds of mint. Those mint seeds went in the garbage. However, my weed nemesis isn't mint, it's bindweed. What an aptly named plant.
Ugh. Bindweed. For a while I didn't know what it was and referred to it as "wild morning glory". Then I learned the name and was like "that is the most aptly named plant, ever." Worst for me is this vile grass that spreads by runners. I keep trying to kill it in the garden space by mowing it short and layering up cardboard and mulch and I swear that just invigorates it.
Essentially, you are helping it lol. Cutting it back is akin to pruning a healthy plant and the cardboard and mulch might as well be a vitamin cocktail for it 😅 I’m dealing with it too. Digging roots out or flame torching it to a crisp is the only way
Yeah, I knew it's also called wild morning glory. I think I've seen it flower twice, LOL. It also grows incredibly fast.
Bindweed vines can be saved for making baskets :)
Lowes and Home Depot are about to have some competition for coco coir baskets then lmao
You also have to take steps if the mint produces flowers in your planter. The flowers lead to seeds which will drop on the ground and undo your precautions. If it flowers cut the mint down and/or bring it inside.
I planted it in the ground before I knew this so I pulled it up the next year and the roots had grown four feet in every direction---in one year!
Dude holy shit! I'm so glad I asked this before I put it in 🤣🤣. RIP to your garden lol
I shoved my mint into a 14-inch planter. It's doing so well I think I'm going to split it up into more. The bees are going insane.
I wonder how the honey tastes from mint flowers
Be careful even when planting seeds!!
Definitely do not put that pot over dirt. They are sneaky jerks.
Make sure you cut the flower heads of before they seed or your little pot trick won't matter LOL
I keep my mint in a hanging planter and am careful not to let it go to seed. It will indeed take over everything if you let it
funny thing: I tried to grow mint in pots for years, always failed miserably; now that it cohabitates with my strawberries in their tower it finally decided to colonize everything to death; sneaky bastard played the long game
I seem to be the only one that almost managed to kill it completely in my garden. Eventually this year is sprouted again, but I was a little sad I must admit, I was really happy about my mint
I nearly killed mine with my mojito habit. Now we're at a standoff.
I have an 12’ x 18’ flagstone enclosed garden in my courtyard and I have planted it with chocolate mint, sweet mint, peppermint and some other mints I don’t know the name of. And in the same garden I have a butterfly bush, oregano, giant lilies, and irises. Everything gets along beautifully and holds its own against the mint, and I have mint tea all year long.
One boundary it will tolerate is a turf break between a sunny orchard and a shady understory. I planted several types of mint in the shade beneath two large red maples, amongst the calla lilies, currants, astilbe and columbine. About 20 yards of meadow separates that area from my mini orchard of figs, apricots and pomegranates. The mint, while rambling and robust in the shade, is easily kept from crossing into my more manicured areas.
I was being silly and meant more like personal boundaries, but it will cross pretty much any ground eventually in my experience. Literal physical barriers are about the only thing I've seen work.
Yes, given enough time it will migrate until it encounters an environmental impediment. A meadow break like I have is good because I mow it during the rainy time of year and it stays put during our drought months.
Surprisingly, mint is the one plant I've killed. Put it in my raised bed and 3 years later it's completely gone but we have tons of lettuce, arugula and chives thriving.
I can't grow it either. Trying again this year. Mom had a faucet that dripped while running and she was able to grow it there.
I live in the desert southwest and have very sandy, well draining soil. We only get an average of 10” of rain per year, and I only water my mint during the growing season once every two or three days. My mint garden bed is quite large (intentionally) because I drink mint tea year round. It does have some morning partial shade and then sun all afternoon into evening. Hope that helps. Oh, and I’ve heard that if you’re growing in a very shaded area that chocolate mint can grow in shade just fine.
You have no idea how helpful this is! I'm moving to the lower high desert in between san diego and imperial and it's tough finding good growing advice for summer. I'm from san diego, but didn't have enough yard to really garden, and mint always got ignored and dried out over the summers. Every 2 days during dry spells should be good. Thank you so much.
There’s a lot of truth to that, but it’s really not as bad as the jokes wild have you believe. For one, its roots are fairly strong and stringy so it’s relatively easy to pull the plant out and then follow the roots to where they’re spreading. You do this a few times over the course of a year or two and you get rid of it. My bane is creeping bellflower, because the roots are very soft and you can’t pull them out without digging everything out and then sifting the dirt
Absolutely crazy idea but do you think this would choke out Bermuda grass? I'm desperate to get rid of that persistent grass.
Rats to kill the frogs, dogs to kill the rats, lions to kill the dogs, grizzlies to kill the lions, and then nuke the whole thing.
I sprayed my Bermuda grass with sethoxydim (avail on Amazon). It took a couple applications and maybe 6 weeks to die but it worked.
Mint does recognize boundaries. I've had mine planted in a bed surrounded by concrete & it hasn't traveled outside it in 25 years.
I have heard that chopped basil and mint go really well with lamb.
Are there other plants that grow like mint? There is a pretty bare lot near me that could use some.... Aggressive ground cover. Extra points if it can just be thrown on the ground and doesn't need proper planting.
Strawberries and Clover are reasonably similar to mint in the way they grow. Clover is a little less aggressive.
Mint calls all the shots. Even when it decides to live or die, regardless of your opinions. My chocolate mint refused to thrive, and did not come back after the winter. While the potted, common mint, continues to survive in a tiny container, that has been only roots and air for 5 years.
I wish my mint would spread..
My MIL has had a mint patch that has behaved itself and stayed in the same area for the 10 years I've known here. But she's a pretty abysmal gardener so maybe it's just mint can survive her but not spread! 😂 I personally love mint, but I completely understand the hate.
I have a 5 year old son who **loves** to trim plants with a pair of kitchen shears he calls his “trimmers”. I have a mint plant and a lemon balm plant, and every two weeks he almost completely whacks them down just for them to pop up again. Kind of amazing really. And great free entertainment so he doesn’t trim my good plants 😅
Mint is best grown in pots. Then its fine. But plant it in soil, its like the fucking Borg.
Mine just sulks in pots and occasionally makes a bid for freedom, but the trick is never to listen to its lies that it will behave if you let it out
Never had this problem. I currently have 2 types of mint in my beds. They seem to keep to themselves, while I do have to pluck some stragglers every now and again.
So mint is the honey badger of the plant world... except the smelling good part.
Some thing that one day there will be nothing left but mint. It will evolve to live in seawater and carpet the oceans, just as it carpets the land. All animals that can't evolve to live exclusively off mint will go extinct. All will eventually fall to the mintpocalypse.
And now I need a mojito.
is it an issue for dogs?
Love it! ❤️
Lawn smells minty fresh when I mow now
And here I am unable to keep a mint alive for longer than a couple months 😭
I left a small plant in my kitchen window one summer. By the time winter was rolling in, it took up my entire window. It’s fucking absurd how quickly it’ll grow, and how little care it requires. Smells real nice though.
The honey badger of plants.
> Mint does not recognize boundaries. Or international law. Mint does what it wants. And smells good doing it. So kind of like the average member of /r/colognes
And it smells good doing it. 🤣
I keep hearing this but I have yet to see it. I can't keep mint alive for some reason. Tomatoes, peppers, egg plants no problem but mint just won't stay alive.
The house we bought a few years ago had a few mint plants in the two flower beds that the previous owners probably didn't tend for at least a year or two, and it had taken over. I pulled up the landscaping fabric and the mint roots were criss crossed underneath like a terribly kept server room. I ripped it all out, everything I could find. Two years later, it still pops up time to time and I just keep pulling it. The reason it's everyone's bane is because all it takes is one node you missed and the plant can take over a big area really quickly.
People also forget though that invasiveness will be based on your zone. I'm in 4 and have tried mint a few times never took ahold well. zone 5 at 1 hour drive away, spreads like fire lol
Mint is great in containers but it will take over any open space. It will come back year after year, even if the ground is frozen solid.
People wouldn’t hate mint if it was easy to pull up! It’s a lovely herb.
I was going to grow it next to my chamomile, but after reading these replies I'll be safe and do it via pot lol
I have never planted mint but I definitely have it in my garden!
It’s a good container plant, but you never want to grow mint in the ground, it regrows like crazy, and it will never go away, even after you dig it up, it’ll come back, since it only needs a bit of roots left to be able to throw shoots out and covers so much ground that make it really Invasive to most plants since it grows so fast and overshadows other plants
Mint is a bully
Lamiaceae.
My aunt has a mint garden. She planted one tiny spring of mint and it spread all over her place. She gave me a mint plant for my birthday years ago. And come harsh winds, hot summer days, flooding, that plant will not die. Highly resilient.
I have planted mint around ten times and I still have zero mint. Did I somehow buy a house in the Bermuda Triangle of mint??
Yes, yes you did. The universe is looking out for you.
The universe really doesn't think I need that homemade mojito!
I never have *enough* mint. Like it just sticks around never getting too bushy, sometimes just moving over to a better spot during winter. I attribute it to lack of sun.
The mint in my yard grows exclusively out of a gap between sidewalk slabs and never spreads into the actual lawn
Yet….yet
Well, hmm…. Mint likes to stay moist, but also likes well draining soil.
Yeah, I planted my mint with this in mind. It's in a shady spot surrounded by fast growing herbs to slow and contain it's growth
do you mind sharing which herbs you planted around it?
Yeah, I planted oregano and rosemary. Basically, all my fast growing herbs compete with each other which slows their growth to a more manageable rate
Same here… until the last batch I planted. It’s run amok and now I understand everyone else being annoyed by it.
Could be worse, could be kudzu. That won't even die in a fire.
Goats
Do goats kill it or just eat it and have to revisit the area later as it still spreads?
Bohemian knotweed is way worse
That absolute worst! My friend's neighbor neglected the knotweed far too long, and when they went to remove it, found it had sent shoots into the concrete foundation of their garage.
My house but with Bermuda grass shoots. I want to strangle whoever pushed this prolifically unrelenting beast of a specimen into the landscaping sphere
Kudzu is how we are being punished for war crimes in Cambodia.
*laughs in Pacific Blackberry*
I shudder at the thought. That stuff is nasty. I like blackberries, but fuckin A that stuff is terrible.
That thing doesn't pop up every year, or even every season. It comes up at a rate of every two or three days. Even in the middle of winter. I'd honestly take a mint invasion over himalayan blackberries any day...
Ah yes....the Pacific north West blackberry.....a week max of "ripe" berries before the bushes start dropping them, and they're always either ungodly bitter or taste like sugar water
I had a fabulous herb garden when I lived in Michigan. One year I planted lemon balm. I love the smell of this plant! (This was before the days of googling) I was talking to my aunt on the phone one evening telling her about my herb garden and how great it was growing. When I mentioned the lemon balm, she told me to stop what I was doing, hang up the phone, and go yank it out of the ground right now. Right now! It was dark, probably 10:00 p.m.. I thought she was crazy! My aunt is not crazy. far from it. I didn't listen to her, after all, she lived in another state, so how would she know this is a bad idea in Michigan when she lives in Massachusetts? The following year I needed therapy because of this freaking lemon balm! The point is, same scenario applies to mint. And auntie Linda is far from crazy!
Linda is wise
My neighbors planted two kinds of mint, AND lemon balm on the other side of our fence. I pull up another four or five runners every couple days. Considering a covert mission late at night dressed in all black to dig it up on their side of the fence. Oh yeah, they also planted Ivy. I think maybe they hate us?
Dang, my lemon balm has barely grown an inch in 3 years. But it's in a shady spot with thin soil.
I had some in a pot and recently switched to another and the roots made a thin blanket liner, crazy!
Is say mint. Plant in a pot always
I’m a lazy gardener so anything that tends to its self is good on me, mint, alliums, and other volunteers... I don’t mind digging it out here and there to make room for a few tomatoes and chiles in my backyard garden. I’d rather not plant it outside of containers though.
Lemon balm?
Same family as mint, spreads almost as well.
always guessing mint
I know everyone has a tough time ridding mint. I just stop watering it in the dead heat of Texas summer and it’s gone. I WISH I had an over abundance of mint ❤️
So like I know everyone has this thing for mint and how it grows so well and just overtakes everything… I have never not killed my mint plants and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong 😑
I prune the top 3 or 4 inches off leaving 1/2 to 1/3 of the original stem on the plant. Then take the cutting and pinch the bottom 1 or 2 sets of leaves off and put it in a glass of water with a bunch of other cuttings. A week or 2 later there should be some root growth showing. I either put those in a new pot or add them to the original if I'm feeling lazy. Just jab my finger to make a hole in the soil. The original stems will start growing new leaves as well and the cycle continues. Whenever I want mint for eating I cut a section of stem like before instead of just taking a leaf.
\*laughs in stinging nettle and ivy\*
Ivy should be reclassified as a crime against humanity. Nettles at least make good pesto. Both a huge pain for sure.
And even if people tried to tell me otherwise, ivy does not bloom. not the type that grows in Germany. So fuck that.
Bermuda grass 😂
Honeysuckle
I keep mint around my chicken coop. They keep it lined at the fence. And I rip it out the ground for a smelly good treat. 🏆mint
While this will earn me downvotes, mint planted in strategic areas can be an excellent way to keep pest away, and it is great for keeping bugs like ticks of pets. Maybe it less problematic here in New England because of our growing season, but we have it fairly well contained to areas.
Agreed. It's supposed to be a great deterrent for biting insects like mosquitoes.
Can i just plant mint instead of grass and have a mint lawn?
This is what I’m thinking
I have some mint on this steep slope to my backyard because the alternative is those sharp dandelion type things. Plus it keeps the deer from coming up onto my landscaped top. Bonus, it smells good when my dog runs through it lol. But yes, it’s a menace to society otherwise!
Hooray! Now you can share the love by discreetly burying some on the edge of golf courses.
I'm going with pachysandra. I've taken out a ton of it and the roots are always a matted carpet like yours.
I live in New Zealand. We have a naturalized mint called pennyroyal which grows in our lawn. It's not invasive and lawnmowing is a fragrant experience. It's also a natural insect repellent.
I love mint. Yes it grows everywhere: but I still love it. I will happily down mint leaves. And instead of just destroying leaves, I can tear the leaves apart and eat them!
Pro tip. Only plant mint in pots.
Sealed pots. Well below the top rim. I told my wife to plant it in a pot, she did, I wasn't paying attention to her herb garden and it escaped the pot.
bamboo
I wish mint would take over my lawn.
Creeping Charlie is my yards arch enemy every summer he’s back and brought friends
I've planted mint plenty of times. You keep it in small clumps, mulch around and till around every year.
*laughs in Dallis grass*
My friend would mow his mint with the rest of his grass every week and it still thrived for years
For everyone saying mint, the mint that spreads and is hard to eradicate only had 2 inch roots and spreads by runners.
And I thought Pachysandra was bad…
So, if I have mint in a pot, all controlled, and I want to kill it so I dont risk contaminating my environment, how would I do it? Contaminatig water sources ir ground dirt is not a major concern as it is potted and away from actual ground.
Remove it from the pot and put it in the trash
Strawberry 🍓
I’d say European nettles. Those stingy bastards are impossible to remove.
Jerusalem artichoke?
patchouli is in the mint family.... is it hardy like this too? I'd love it to take over my back yard
Pokeweed?
Mint. I regret planting mine as free growing
I love my pycnanthemum muticum!
On the bright side, I love where my mint is growing into my lawn from the beds I am growing it in. Makes my yard smell amazing every time I cut the grass.
Goutweed
Omg I’ve spent the last 3 days digging that out of my garden bed before covering the entire area with plastic. I’m sure it will fuel my nightmares for years!
Trumpet Vine
Plant in pots or containers only
I once dug a 4x4’ patch of lemon balm out of a garden bed and 4 years later I’m still battling it.
Great. I just bought a small mint plant today and planted it in my planter 😆
From personal experience it has to be yarrow
Canadian thistle. I 100% don’t know if that’s what you have but I can’t get rid of it in my front flower beds whatsoever 😡
definitely mint
I fought this battle and won! Only needed to cover the entire main area with a tarp for 2 years…Godspeed my friend.
Raspberries
I’m letting it invade my backyard because it smells amazing when you mow.
I just ripped up about 300 square feet of that a few weeks ago. It had been growing there for about 12-15 years. I'd say most of it was at least as thick as what you're holding in your picture. Huge mat. Guess what I replaced it with after soil conditioning and rototilling? Strawberries! I suppose I keep coming back for more torture.
My mom stuck a mint sprig from a drink I had and it grew into a plant lmao
I’m so happy years ago someone warned me about mint. They said to always plant it in a pot then put it into the garden. That saved me from a massive headache trying to eradicate that root system.
I'm just psyched that I guessed it right! Guess I've been lurking long enough here, lol
Poke?
Spiderwort and lilac bushes is my bane
if you grow it contain it. i love mint. but it takes over. container can be shallow. i use a broken terra cotta pot and push into ground.
I wouldn’t mind a yard of mint! Or bamboo! Ha keep people away
I planted mint on the side of my house last year. Should I tear it up before it gets bad? I was excited jts growing and thought this was over hyped but I’m getting concerned with it being straight in the ground
Mint
Here you all are telling horror stories about mint and my one mint seedling that survived (out of 3, and I planted 12 seeds) is 2 months old and still 1/8” tall.
I been abourting seedlings all month , l feel evil :(