The benefits of mint are numerous. I usually put it out of the way, where it won't become an invasive problem. Alan Chadwick, the man who brought the knowledge of organic gardening to America, often put in near the water spicket. You can read about his methods, and many of the companion plants that he used, at http://www.alan-chadwick.org.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick

If you wish to buy into the philosophies put forth by those who advocate companion planting and if you can find sufficient evidence that planting mint will, in actual practice, deter ants and if you see ants as a pest or potential garden problem then it may be worth it to you.

But those are all big IFs and they must be weighed against the well documented evidence of mint's invasive nature when you make your decision.

However, please note that companion planting is merely a school of thought and one that makes many claims that cannot be substantiated in actual practice. It relies solely on anecdotal claims not controlled testing evidence. And that ants, unless they are fire ants, are normally seen as garden neutrals.

If you have a severe infestation of ants that are doing actual damage then there are far more effective controls for the problem without creating a new one with the mint.

Just some thought to consider.

Dave

I love mint and would not be without a plant, but I would never EVER plant it in the ground. I wish I could have all the time back that I've spent chasing after things that root and run, things that sucker, things that self-sow madly, etc. My property is too small and my life too short to deal with such plants in any but the most draconian and contained conditions.

I wouldn't plant mint in a raised bed or any annual garden bed due to already mentioned being invasive. I have it planted in the ground in several places but all around it are perennials that keep it in check. It's worked so far and if it manages to break out of it's area I can deal with it. Plenty worse "weeds" to deal with than mint in my opinion. It certainly brings in lots of bees when it flowers.

I wished someone would have warned me 12 yrs ago when I put the pot spearmint was planted in on the ground near one of my beds. I have been trying to rid my garden of it ever since.

Each year I say if this doesn't do it I will use Roundup.

Knock yourself out.

I had a mouse problem and planted mint along the side of the house as a deterrent, and it works. And yeah, I am chasing it all over the place and pulling out what I don't want, and will do it as long as I live here, but as I cannot cope with mice in the house, it's worth it to me.

It's not as bad for us in dry season climates because it can't go where there is no water. It stays in my herb mound because that is where the drip irrigation is....

I have seen numerous city lots where the entire yard was mint. That was despite the owners' efforts to keep it in check.

I have grown it in a pot, and had it send runners through the holes at the bottom of a pot and up into neighboring pots.

I am currently growing spearmint in a hanging pot by the back door, where I can keep an eye on it.

For your garden, may I recommend calamint? It is a Mediterranean edible, and does not spread by runners. It does spread by seed, but is not a big problem. I've been growing it for 15 years without trouble. I do cut it to the ground each summer when it starts to set seed, and it bounces back happily.

I would proceed with peppermint, which in my experience is easy to keep confined with regular monitoring. I do think there is something to ant deterrence. We get two different kinds of ants in our kitchen, and putting stems of bruised mint near activity areas helps defuse their interest.

I also have apple mint and spearmint, which are great hillside plants but should not be allowed anywhere near cultivated beds.

If you grow mint in a pot, placed in the soil, with the bottom cut out, and the lip of the pot an inch or two above the soil, it will prevent the mint from spreading. I've grown mint this way for a few years now and I've never had a problem with it.

Rodney

I planted mint among the roses. Yes, it did grow and spread, but a little diligence and I finally got it all out. If you don't mind weeding and stay after the mint to remove or control it, you can do it. If you don't want to take the time, then forget it. I have mint now in a pot.

In a pot either hanging or on a deck or table is the way to go. If you have a friend that can't grow a thing, give them mint ;-)

>If you grow mint in a pot, placed in the soil, with the bottom cut out, and the lip of the pot an inch or two above the soil, it will prevent the mint from spreading.

Bwahahaha!

This must be climate-specific. Where I live, spearmint or peppermint would be out the bottom and into the rest of the bed in the first year!

Not sure about ant and mice deterrent, because I plant Spearmint and Perrila as herb/food. Like others already mentioned, not all mints are the same. So pick your mint and their residency carefully. Spearmint travels by root (in ground is a no no for me). But Perrila spreads by seeds. I've been growing both in plastic pots on the brick patio. They do not attract as many bees and birds as my other flowering planting.

I also have catmint in pots because I read cats like catmint. But my cat thinks he's a dog, so the lonely catmint is just there looking pretty. And pretty they are!

This is a photo I took today of mint that I have planted in a bottomless pot. This is a 2 year old chocolate mint that is just starting to grow this Spring (my other mint varieties are slowly beginning to wake up). As you can see there are no sprouts outside of the pot.

I'll admit that the bottomless pot method may not work for everyone but it works for me. I also harvest them heavily during the growing season so maybe that factors into it as well.

{{gwi:41197}}

Rodney

I have my mints in a new landscape bed, in pockets of potting soil in a sea of mulch (literally, the entire end of the bed is filled, six inches deep, with pine mulch over grass). They seem well-behaved, but now I'm suspicious of what they're doing under there.

This post was edited by nialialea on Sun, Apr 14, 13 at 21:35