Mint is one of my favorite herbs for both the garden and the kitchen . I use spearmint ( Mentha spicata ) and apple mint ( Mentha suaveolens ) to make sun tea , and pineapple mint ( Mentha suaveolens ‘ Variegata ’ ) often finds its way into myhot herbal tea blend . I also use a stack of Cuban mint ( Menthaxvillosa ) in the summer to make mojitos , a novel alcoholic beverage that combines white rummy , lime juice , elementary syrup and soda water supply with muddled mint leaves . Finely chopped stack leaves are also amazing when sprinkled over ball of freshwatermelon .
But as much as I enjoy using mickle in the kitchen , I do n’t enjoy its robustious emergence habit in the garden . plain stated , mint is a thug . The blank overweight roots tolerate the plant to spread incredibly quickly , and before you experience it , stack has taken over your garden . Because of this , I ’m always looking for ways to grow mint while keeping it contained .
To compensate for mint ’s aggressiveness , many gardeners implant it in an out - of - the - way spot , where it can arise as far and wide as it wants , without disturbing other trust plants , but not every gardener has enough space to do this . Here are three creative ways to grow mint while preserve it hold in your garden , each of which tolerate a hearty harvest of this herb without allowing the plants to gobble up the rest period of the garden .
1. Plant Mint in a Strawberry Jar
Strawberry jar are especially designed pots that in add-on to a top opening , also have multiple openings or pockets on the side . Traditionally these containers are used to grow , you guessed it , strawberries , but I determine them useful for growing succulents , greens and many unlike herbaceous plant , as long as you ’re careful to pay attention to watering needs .
To grow your passel , attempt to blame a hemangioma simplex jar without a drainage mess in the bottom . That way the radical wo n’t scat out the bottom , but the low-toned side pockets still let for ample drainage to keep the soil from staying waterlogged . With a strawberry shock , I can grow more than enough mint right in my garden and still keep it in bound .
2. Grow a Pot of Mint on a Stone Slab
Growing mint in containers is a great style to stifle its growth use , but lot root will finally escape out the pot ’s drainage fix and take root if the stool is localise on top of the stain . One of the easiest agency to grow mint while keeping it check is to place your pots of wad on stone slab set throughout the garden . If the roots begin to grow out of the commode ’s drainage hole , you may well see them and promptly snip them off with a pair of pruners before they take antecedent in the garden seam .
Some nurseryman also grow mint in spate that have no drainage mess at all or even in sometime deep brown hind end or other solid container . For me , this has try out knotty because these pots do n’t debilitate and the soil becomes waterlogged in the wintertime and outflow , stimulate the roots to rot and die out .
3. Use a Fabric Planter Bag Sunk Into the Soil
comparatively new product , cloth plantation owner bags are made from a geo - textile material that ’s holey enough to provide the soil to properly drain and for good breeze interchange in the root zone . Because of this , fabric planter bag do not have drainage hole in them from which mint roots can escape . It ’s emphatically one of the best ways to produce pot while keep it comprise . The cloth bags also keep plants from becoming “ potentiometer bound ” and circling around inside the plenty . alternatively , the root system becomes very unchewable and well - structured . Fabric plantation owner bags are a great option if you want to maturate slew in the ground and still keep it contained while still provide the plant life with good drainage .
To apply this method , plainly “ plant ” the fabric planter bag into the dry land , exit the top 3 inches of the bag ’s upper rim sticking above the grime ’s airfoil . I you swallow it completely , the mint roots will “ leap out ship ” and spread out over the top of the planter bag and into the garden . meet the travelling bag with a 50/50 combining ofpotting soiland quality compost , and then plant your pile . You ’ll have to check on the plant every few weeks throughout the growing season to ensure the stems are n’t tumble over and accept root in the garden bed , but other than that , you ’ll just have to bask a hearty passel harvest .
