Mint

[flowerpower]

I'm a fairly new gardener in zone 7, and I want to plant some peppermint for the smell and also, I love peppermint tea. But I've been doing some research and found that it can be incredibly invasive. If I get a large pot or a barrel, can I plant it in that without it beeing invasive? If the answre is yes, what container should I get and how should I go about planting it?

[Newt]

Yes, mints do spread once they are established and can be a real pest in the garden.* Mints have square stems so beware of plants with square stems as they are in the mint family.* I planted my mint in a half whiskey barrel and it survives my zone 7 winters here in Maryland.* You can use a mixture of organic potting soil and compost and your mint will love it.* You could also plant other herbs in there too.

Newt

[jstr11]

Yes, they are extremely invasive! I planted a cutting that hardly had a taproot (my grandma gave it to me i really didn't know what to do with it) and in three years*its takin over a 3x4 plot in the garden. I just* started pruning it back every year and its rapidly started taking over more. I put old*fence*boards around the remainng part of that bed to keep it*out. It must be working because just outside this perimeter there are shoots. Just make sure you pick the sprouts from the seeds out! Anyway*i havn't answered your qustion. I think*mint will grow anywere with sun.

jstr*(-;

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[sama]

[align=left]oh crumbs, i must have done something terrible, then!* i planted mint, and it has done NOTHING!* and i WANT it to!LOL![/align]
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[align=left]sama ~ obviously NOT green-fingered[/align]

[align=left]Yeah it is very tenacious! If you plant it with anything else in a container, it will eventually win and choke out the other herbs. But it's hard to not like such a sweet herb. Just keep it contained. And try chocolate mint, it's my favorite.[/align]
[align=left]Patrick - www.iheartgardening.com[/align]

[sama]

[align=left]CHOCOLATE MINT???????????????????[/align]
[align=left]now that is my idea of heaven!!* i didnt even know it existed![/align]

[sama]

[align=left]i know you are going to think this is REALLY daft, but is there TRULY chocolate mint?* i have honestly never heard of it before![/align]
[align=left]sama[/align]

[Newt]

Sama, that's not a daft question at all.* There really is a chocolate mint.* :D
http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com...achocolate.htm

Newt

[sama]

[align=left]can't lay hands on it over here, newt!* that's really frustrating!* thank you for the information, though![/align]
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[align=left]sama ~ sighing.....[/align]

[Newt]

Sama, forgive me, but I don't know where 'over here' is.* I answer so many questions on so many forums I just can't remember where everyone lives!* :shock:* Maybe you could order seeds?

Newt