I love gardening. I really do. There’s something incredibly satisfying about nurturing a tiny seed into a thriving plant, and then enjoying the fruits (or herbs!) of your labor. But even the most rewarding hobbies can have their… let’s call them ‘vigorous’ moments. For me, that moment arrived in the form of mint.
When I first started my herb garden a few years back, I wanted to include some mint. Who doesn’t love fresh mint in their tea or a mojito? I planted a few different varieties – peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint – thinking they’d just happily coexist in their designated corner. Oh, how naive I was.
Within a single season, my little mint patch had staged a full-blown invasion. It wasn’t just spreading; it was conquering. Those innocent-looking runners were tunneling under paths, popping up between paving stones, and even making a bold attempt to join forces with my neighboring tomato plants. It was a green tide, and I was starting to feel like I was losing the battle.
I’d read that mint could be aggressive, but I honestly underestimated it. It’s like the ‘Energizer Bunny’ of the herb world – it just keeps going and going and going.
So, what’s a gardener to do when their mint goes rogue?
Containment is Key:
My first mistake was not giving it its own space from the get-go. If you’re planting mint, I highly recommend using containers. You can plant it directly in pots, or for a more integrated look, you can sink pots into the ground. Just make sure the rim of the pot is slightly above soil level so the runners can’t easily escape. Root barriers or sturdy plastic edging buried deep can also help.
**Turning a