How to Grow Lamb Mint

Growing Lamb mint ensures a fresh harvest throughout the season. The plant has dark leaves and grows quickly in many zones. Add leaves to salads, meats especially lamb, vegetables or make mint tea and jellies. The plants have a nice scent and attract butterflies and bees.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Potted plants
• Bone meal
• Compost mulch
• Garden shovel
• Garden hose
• Knife
• Lidded jars

Grow Lamb Mint

1. Buy potted lamb mint plants from a local nursery or garden outlet.
2. Select a location with sun and partial shade after your zone's last frost.
3. Prepare the planting site in an area containing good draining soil while retaining moisture, that's more alkaline than acidic and nutrient rich. Add a small amount of bone meal if needed or mix the soil with organic compost of leaves and grass clippings, but no manure.
4. Dig a hole with a garden shovel deep enough to cover the roots then remove the plant from the pot.
5. Place the plant in the hole and fill with dirt. For multiple plantings, dig holes 3 feet apart.
6. Water deeply at planting then throughout the week as needed. Lamb mint needs moist conditions to thrive and maximize flavor.
7. Mulch around the plants to suppress weeds and in the fall mulch 6 to 12 inches over the plants and remove the mulch in the spring after the last frost.

Harvest Lamb Mint

8. Snip off the first set of leaves under the bud before it flowers for immediate use. Pinch or use a knife. The bud and first leaves underneath contain the most flavors.
9. Remove flower stems to lengthen the harvest and for producing bushier growth and better flavor.
10. Cut the stems back, when ready for drying, above the lowest leaves. Do this before flowering in early morning for oil retention.
11. Hang the leaf stems upside down in a shady area to dry.
12. Strip leaves without crumbling and store in airtight jars until needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Mint plants spread quickly through runners underground. It's invasive and crowds or kills other plants so monitor and cut back plants for control. Some gardeners prefer growing Lamb mint in a hanging basket or planter on the patio. Other growers bury a deep bucket in the ground and grow mint plants in the container to keep plants localized.
• Propagate through stem cuttings from established plants right before the flowers bloom. Also, propagate from root cuttings in spring or autumn. Plant the roots in a 2-inch hole and space 9 inches. Transplant once established.
• Remove yellow leaves to prevent disease and spray for rust that looks like orange blobs growing under the leaves. See your local garden supply store for chemical spray and read directions.

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