How to Grow Mint

Given half a chance, mint will take over your whole garden. That natural vigor makes this hardy perennial a great, no-fail plant for beginning gardeners - or for anyone who needs a tough, fast-growing and lovely ground cover.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Garden Trowels
• Mint Plants
• Planting Containers
• Potting Soil
• Clay Drainage Tiles

1. 

   Choose a site where mint can roam freely without disturbing other plants in your garden. It's happiest in partial shade and in moist, moderately rich, slightly acid soil, but it will grow in any light from full sun to full shade and in any kind of soil you happen to have.

2. Buy mint plants at the nursery for planting in early spring, as soon as the ground can be worked. (Mint does not grow well from seed.)

3. 

   Plant mint in its ideal conditions if you want a vigorous ground cover. To contain its enthusiasm, give it a less-than-perfect home (for instance, full sun and soil that's on the dry side).

4. Set plants 12 to 18 inches apart, depending on the variety. To control their rampant ways, plant them in bottomless containers sunk into the soil. Clay drainage tiles, about 10 inches deep and 6 to 8 inches across, are ideal.

5. 

   Keep the soil moist until the plants are established.

6. 

   Pinch stem ends off each spring to keep plants bushy. At the end of the gardening season, prune plants back to near ground level and top-dress with compost.

7. Harvest sprigs as you need them throughout the growing season.

Tips & Warnings

• There are more than 500 species of mint, each with its own distinct flavor, scent, color and shape. To wow your friends at your next Derby Day party, plant a crop of 'Kentucky Colonel', a cross of spearmint and apple mint bred specially for juleps. And you'll be the talk of the ice-cream-social set if you grow your own flavorings - try orange mint, pineapple mint or (yes) chocolate mint for starters.
• All mints thrive in containers (and it's the only foolproof way to contain them). Use a pot that's at least 12 inches in diameter and filled with compost-enriched potting soil. Water regularly, feed with fish emulsion each month and divide plants every two to three years.
• Though bottomless containers slow the spread, any mint planted in the ground will wander far and wide. The plants spread by shallow rhizomes, which eventually will escape over the top of any containers. Stay alert and when you see any, clip them off. (See "How to Understand Root Systems.")

[ranen]

on 7/1/2009 I love spearmint. I planted some in a pot a few weeks ago and went on vacation. My boyfriend did not water it while I was away and it died...having to start over again, and will plant it outside this time so at least it will rain on it while I'm gone.

[lakersrulrkobe1]

on 6/25/2009 I never knew you can grow mint almost around!

[green2cleaners]

on 5/21/2009 HI, yes mint will spread, so we plant it in the flower garden, two or three kinds. Adds a nice smell when weeding, keep so pests away and if it does spread it's okay because it acts a ground cover and keep the earth moist. Never have planted it anywhere else. Good tips.

on 11/22/2005 Use water from washing rice or beans as a fertilizer, it is very nutritious!