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JennGM
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| Posted: May 15 2009 at 7:51pm | IP Logged
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My son fell in love with a chocolate mint plant, and begged to add it to the garden.
I'm just afraid it will take over. But then again, maybe not, because he's enjoying tasting the leaves so much.  I've tried planting mint with the pot, but it still spread. I think I must have done it incorrectly. Any tried and true isolation methods? I'm trying to decide whether to include it in the square foot garden, or in our front gardens, where I'll have perennials, annuals, and flowering herbs.
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mavmama
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I've always heard that you should plant it in a section of clay tile, buried about a foot. That will keep the roots from spreading. Also, some plant it under the hose faucet so it gets the drips of water every time. Just enought to keep it in good shape. HTH
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stellamaris
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| Posted: May 15 2009 at 8:29pm | IP Logged
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I planted my pineapple mint in a large clay pot half buried in the dirt. I've also had success containing mint using a "collar" made out of heavy-duty plastic (like the top section of a large plastic nursery pot). It needs to be buried about 6-8" down to prevent the runners from spreading. Also, you should deadhead (cut the flowers before they set seed) to prevent the mint spreading via seed. My chocolate mint is pretty well-behaved here. My lemon balm is an invasive nightmare...I need to be drinking lots of lemon balm tea!
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MaryM
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That's funny - when I read the title of the thread, I thought you were asking for suggestions to help it grow. Since I know it is hardy and takes over I thought that was ironic - now I see that you are asking about it's tendancy to take over! Great ideas everyone. We have some mint here that is an isolated corner but not contained. I just pull out most of it each year - and leave a manageable portion .
stellamaris wrote:
| My lemon balm is an invasive nightmare...I need to be drinking lots of lemon balm tea! |
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Thanks for the heads up, Caroline. I didn't know that. I just bought a plant (love the smell) but haven't planted it. I'll have to do an isolating method.
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how about buy a decorative pot and don't sink it.. just set it into a flower bed so that the pot is part of the look.
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Carole N.
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| Posted: May 16 2009 at 1:51am | IP Logged
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Mary, my thoughts were exactly the same as yours!
Jenn, I just bought some chocolate mint yesterday as well. I have always planted my mint in a seperate pot above the ground and then dead head the flowers. That seems to have worked for me in the past.
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Angel
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Too late for me... the former owners of our house planted mint and lemon balm in the ground and now the mint is halfway out in the yard!  The lemon balm... well, having chickens to eat the seeds seems to have helped stem that tide. 
Actually, though, one way of killing mint that's already spread is to let your boys play with trucks in the flower bed. Of course the nothing else will grow there either...
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| Posted: May 16 2009 at 6:31am | IP Logged
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We keep ours in a pot, too. Even wintertime neglect in the garage can't kill it.
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JennGM
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| Posted: May 16 2009 at 9:18am | IP Logged
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I've killed mint. Actually dh did. I couldn't believe it.
I'm sorry for the confusion about the subject line. I guess I should have said "Containing" but I don't think it would fit.
Here's a question. If I semi-submerge a pot, what kind of soil do you use? Potting soil, or a mixture of good ole Virginia red clay and some potting soil? I can't remember what kind of soil mint prefers. Seems anything.
Caroline, good to know your chocolate mint is not everywhere. Maybe it is the clay that keeps it from spreading too much?
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Jennifer G. Miller
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hylabrook1
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When our peppermint and spearmint start to get too exuberant, we just pull some and dry the leaves to use for tea some other time.
Peace,
Nancy
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: May 21 2009 at 8:48am | IP Logged
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For a good means of containment you might try placing holes in the bottom of a five gallon bucket for drainage, burying it in whatever bed you decide to use, then planting the chocolate mint inside it. You might want to use soil from the garden...I think potting soil may be too light to withstand rain or heavy watering and might wash away over time.
We have both chocolate mint and spearmint. We originally planted them in a designated bed, adjacent to our regular vegetable garden. We planted both inside landscape fabric covered with mulch and circled the bed with fieldstone. The spearmint has been much more invasive than the chocolate mint and has spread to several areas of the neighboring vegetable garden.
I potted some of the chocolate mint for indoors, which has not flourished nearly as well as mint in the garden. Since chocolate mint is quite lovely, I also transplanted some into our flowerbeds, where our dogs had destroyed most of our other plants. So far the chocolate mint is thriving there, in the midst of wild violets we also tranplanted there. With a covering of straw mulch it hasn't spread much yet, but I wouldn't mind if it did...I hope it will eventually serve as a groundcover to cover all the damage our naughty dogs have inflicted on those areas.
The taste and scent of chocolate mint is glorious! I can understand why your son enjoys it so much.
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Practical Suggestions For Growing Mint
