Mint I try to be a gardener, but really I have no chance

Simple MINT
Everyone I ask says make sure it is not able to go rampant as it will take over the garden. then give me some
My own brother has Mint, it is in abundance, so he gives me a bucket full with the warning make sure it is unable to spread or it will take over the garden

What happens for me Nowt Zilch Nothing Deed
I put it in a container in the ground, it is there for four weeks then cops it
I put it in the ground anywhere I get a few weeks out of it then deed
My latest lot I got it through the winter and it was looking good, thick and rich
Last week DEED All brown and dead

If I can not even grow Mint what chance have I got for anything else :-(

Jack McHammocklashing (Disheartend)

 

Hi Jack
I have Applemint in a hanging basket. It's just reviving after the winter.
I had standard mint which died 2 years ago after the severe winter - read "a bit chilly" in Fife.
It may be that you need to stick the Mint container somewhere less Arctic when Winter approaches.
Failing that, just invest a quid in a new plant each Spring.

 

I know a few people that absolutely can't grow mint. Some of these people can grow really tricky stuff really well, but not mint.

I think its a myth that its like a weed, or if it is true, then it is like a weed in the sense that some weeds only thrive in specific conditions.

I think the variety matters. At my last house I had peppermint and spearmint. The peppermint was indestructible, the spearmint died a few weeks after planting.

Mint does die down over winter. Its not evergreen, so I'd expect it to look a bit rubbish at this time of year. Just cut it right down to ground level and I bet it comes back soon.

Another mistake I've known a few people make is to fit mint into the blanket statement that mint is a herb and 'herbs thrive in hot, dry, sunny conditions'. Mint needs moist soil and in dry weather, it needs plenty of watering. It will tolerate some shade too but not much.

I grew my peppermint in a bed surrounded by lawn. I did it on purpose, figuring I'd let the lawn prevent the mint from becoming invasive. I remember when I first did it, a few people I told were mortified, claiming that's the end of my lawn. It doesn't work like that. Yes the mint tried to pop up in the lawn, but Mr Mower would soon sort that, and the smell of freshly mowed mint mixed with freshly mowed grass is quite something.

As for growing mint in containers, while I'm sure it is generally good advice, it's never worked for me. Mint is hungry and thirsty and needs plenty of leg room. With those attributes, I think it can only thrive in container if you give it more attention than I've ever been willing to give to one plant.

 

I'm growing 2 sorts of mint in one planter as I heard one will kill the other off, so far they have just swapped sides

Did manage to kill some in another planter, found a load of vine weeevil grubs in there, had some very happy mice.

I overwinter the planter in the greenhouse or coldframe as the plot is very exposed in the winter.

 

Many moons ago I can remember mint being rampant in my grandparents garden. Before the days of strimmers my dad used to go round there with a scythe every so often, it was that bad.

Sorry Jack, that's probably what you didn't want to hear!

 

my dad had a mint plant growing under the garden tap .... it was in sun/semishade ... he set the tap to drip slowly during spring/summer

plant thrived for more than 20 years and was still looking good when we moved home

 

Ah .... mmmm .... mint. Now, it's a (very) well documented fact that mint and I do not get along - in fact we're seldom even on speaking terms.

I had my first 'proper' garden when I got married 34 years ago. Each year, glad to get rid of some, my Dad would dig up huge clumps of his mint which I'd transplant into my garden and ... watch it die. I got him to plant it and it died. I've tried growing it in acid soil, alkaline soil, heavy soil, light soil; full sun, dappled shade, deep shade; in borders, tubs, pots, troughs even hanging baskets; facing north, south, east and west. I've watered it, not watered it, fed it, not fed it; I've bought it from garden centres, nurseries, the supermarket and have tried taking cuttings - heaven knows, I even tried growing it from seed once and guess what ...... it still died. People would tell me you have to 'contain' it, it's a thug, it will swamp and kill nearby plants ... they would also say it required little attention and would thrive in almost all conditions - none of which was true in my case. 'Cut it back' they would urge - which of course I would have done, had I had anything to cut back; '... it will die back in the winter' they'd say, but seemingly failed to understand that mine never actually made it to winter in the first place!

Now, I happen to like mint, I use it quite a lot, with new potatoes and in mint sauce of course, but I also like to pop a few stalks in with other veggies, my daughter likes to make her own mint tea, I crush a bit in homemade lemonade, I sometimes use it as an addition when I make things like quince or crab-apple jelly and I make mint jelly and mint ice-cream, all of which requires ... err .... mint, so I wasn't about to give up and let something often described as growing like a weed, defeat me.

In a final bid to grow the stuff, last year I bought what must have been about 15 plants, I stuck them randomly in the ground and thought 'get on with it, I don't give a toss if you do die' and basically pretended not to notice them. And guess what - a couple of them survived, not only that, they actually grew, producing enough real live mint to save me from having to buy quite so many of those horrible little cellophane packs of the stuff from the supermarket. Once it got the idea, it decided to colonise quite a big patch of the nearby lawn and didn't seem to mind having its head chopped off a couple of times a week, I still ignored it. Later in the year it began to die back and I still pretended not to notice or care, then a couple of weeks ago I gave the lawn it's first cut and there was the unmistakable smell of mint mixed in with that of freshly cut grass - a quick inspection and yes, there are new mint shoots .... everywhere. It's only taken 34 years but I think, maybe, perhaps, possibly, I've finally cracked the mint growing thing - now all I have to do is persuade the bulk of it to grow actually in the border rather than through the grass!

 

Chance for me yet then
Do not take my brothers ten morrisons buckets of peppermint, ten of spearmint and five of garden mint
Go out and buy some

Ok thanks will give it a final try

Jack McH

 

Heres my Chocolate & Garden Mint planter Jack.



See, its all lies, one should have killed the other by now.