New and Unread Tree-Mails
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Morrisonville, NY  DDragon121016 May 2, 2018 7:03 AM CST |
| I grew mint last year in my ground vegetable garden and it was absolutely beautiful and grew very well. Spring has finally sprung up here in upstate NY and I started to prepare my garden. I noticed the mint is starting to take over and even grow into the grass. I want to keep mint for this year but maybe the garden is not the right place for it. I was reading up on it and said you can grow mint in pots. Do you think I can transplant the mint that is already in the ground into a pot? If so, how do I do that without killing the plant? And how deep/big does the pot need to be? I was thinking of having one of the long window box planters so it can just sit right on the edge of my garden. |
Name: Elaine Sarasota, Fl The one constant in life is change              dyzzypyxxy May 2, 2018 8:30 AM CST |
| Yes, mint spreads by underground stolons, so it will keep going, and take over if you leave it in the ground. Dig up a few clumps (dig deep!) and put them in a pot. Use a saucer or some other device to block the drain holes in the pot or it will "escape" again into the ground. As large a pot as you think you can manage would be good. It's a nice plant, but gets out of control easily, especially in a space that you are watering and fertilizing like a vegetable garden. Keep a close eye on the area where it was planted - any little pieces of root will start growing again, so pluck it out as soon as it pops up to stop it. Elaine "Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill |
Morrisonville, NY DDragon121016 May 2, 2018 9:27 AM CST |
| Thank you dyzzypyxxy! I will get on it right away since it is already starting to show in many place. I hope I dont kill it when trying to dig it up. From the sounds of it, it seems like its pretty hardy and relentless so good chance I wont kill it! |
Name: Philip Becker Fresno California (Zone 8a)  Philipwonel May 2, 2018 2:11 PM CST |
| Don't worry there Dragon. You can't hardy kill the stuff. If you take a top cutting, stick it in soil, and water it ! It will grow ! 😮🙊😮🙊 😎😎😎 Anything i say, could be misrepresented, or wrong. |
UK Starfishmomma May 3, 2018 10:39 AM CST |
| I put some apple mint on my allotment in a pot, sunk into the ground with the rim just above the level of the soil. I find that slows down the spread of plants with similar habits, but doesn't stop them spreading. Loganberry in particular is just about impossible to prevent from spreading. Anyway, this mint seems to grow slower than "normal" mint, although a stolon has still managed to grow over the rim and rooted in the surrounding soil, so make sure you leave a bit of pot rim as a little barrier. Is it normal for speciality mints to grow slower than standard mints? |
Name: stone near Macon Georgia (USA) (Zone 8a)    stone May 3, 2018 3:26 PM CST |
DDragon121016 said:I noticed the mint is starting to take over and even grow into the grass. How is this a problem? Mint lawns are cool. |
UK Starfishmomma May 4, 2018 6:27 AM CST |
| As always, it's a case of what you want and don't want to do. I certainly don't mind mint running amok normally. I even tried one year to grow numerous mints in a mint garden, I don't know what went wrong but many died off before they became established. Morrocan, chocolate, apple, pineapple, Swiss, peppermint and another type I can't remember. If you are going to have to put up with weeds in the garden, it could be worse than mint, at least it's useful and fragrant. Right now I have lemon balm spreading a bit - with help from me! A simple, attractive plant, not much attention needed, fragrant, useful leaves, easy to dig up a chunk and transplant and from my experience it's hardier than mint. Perennial, dying down over winter to miraculously regrow in spring to provide ground cover. |
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