The mint in question is both spearmint (kind of purplish-green) and a bright green mint. The green mint tastes better, but it's the variety I put on the west side to start with and although it did well for a year, it died out. I think I let the yew bush that shares the bed shade it out, or maybe I overwatered. There are also tulips in the bed, and two columbines and some unidentified blue flowering thing. Oh, and strawberries. So the plants are really duking it out in there and I understand why the mint is making a run for it.

I really have to get that bed into shape. Which likely won't happen until next year. In the meantime, I've trimmed the yew back pretty viciously (to about 2/3rds of its size at the start of the year) and next year I plan to repeat that so it's a more modest size.

I'd say you most definitely need something more extreme. Can you sink the sheet metal 18-24"? In my experience, mint will laugh at any barrier less than that -- and it may leap over or tunnel under anyway!

That said, I have mint planted in the ground as well. Pretty much surrounded by concrete, and I rip patches out liberally all summer long. And I'm never short of mint!

This is the question asked by mint-lovers over the millenia! It's certainly been asked a lot of times on this forum, over the years!

I don't think there's anything which will keep mint from spreading, except possibly to keep it firmly contained in a pot - and even then, it usually escapes. Mint can grow down very deep into the soil and pop up on the other side of a roadway, no trouble at all. Once you've put mint into your garden, you're very likely to have it forever, and it's very likely to take over. My suggestion is to start digging - frantically!

Sheet metal it is, then! Maybe I can use that little sledge hammer to hammer it in...

It may already be a lost cause. Your only hope is to sell your house and move to a new one.

My mother had a patch of mint that was mowed regularly and though it did spread over five years from a one foot diameter spot to a 5-8 foot diameter spot, it didn't take over the whole yard like mutant kudzu or something. On the other hand, she was in Oklahoma, on 10 acres, and she simply didn't water that area.

Hm, a lawn of mint wouldn't be all that bad. It would at least smell real nice!

Napalm.

ugh. i feel so incredibly embarassed and ashamed. For some reason, i am not able to grow mint. Everything i have read about it, informs me that mint is incredibly invasive yet i have tried to grow it in pots, in my backyard. i must be one horrible gardener, b/c none of the mints i have ever planted have ever survived.

i've had many repeated disasters with trying to grow what seems to be such an easy herb. Just once, i wish i could see with my own eyes just how invasive this plant is.

nadia,

I think the fact you are in Canada may have something to do with your difficulties. I don't know how winter hardy mints are on the ground, but if you grow them in pot, and take it in, then mint generally doesn't do too good indoors.

For all,

The title "keep mint from spreading" is a bit contradictory. We all know mints spread. But how to keep it contained? Well, if the search is a magic gadet or method that once used then we can leave it alone and it will be contained, then I am afraid that there is no such thing. There is no such easy magic for anything we grow. To different degree we always have to render our required cares. For mint, I put them into a midsize clay pot, and dig a big hole on farther side of my garden and place the pot in the hole. Then each autumn before the end of the season, I cut off all the growth that are creeping over the edge of the pot, and "irradicate" the entire area outside of the edge. I may start some new pots, or replace the old plant in the pot, and replace it with the newer and more rigorus plants from the outside. But if you leave them alone, then it is going to be out of control. But then so are many other perenials when you don't do anything with them year after year.

How to Prevent Mint from Spreading

Use a gallon size pot. Fill the bottom three inches with gravel. Plant the mint and fill with soil so that the soil line is 2-3 inches lower than the top of the pot.

Dig a hole in the ground where you want the mint the size of the pot and insert the pot so that the top of the pot is 2-3 inches above the soil line.

Keep the mint trimmed so it doesn't walk over the sides of the pot and your mint should stay in one place.

Hey Annie-Lee,

Thanks for the info!

That made me feel a bit better too lol :)

daisyduckworth.

Yes, mint does travel. That's what the gravel is for . It depends on the gravel you use - if you don't use gravel, then you may as well have planted the mint in the ground. I've never had a problem with mint spreading once I switched to this technique.

I do have some spearmint taking over my front bed and I have to chase after it yearly. Still I do enjoy it in my tea very much. I had peppermint but I chased it so much I don't have it any longer. I would like to get another peppermint but yeah, the invasive nature of the plant does make me think twice. I have some spearmint also in a clay pot and it does stay contained there well.

Nadia, where in Canada are you? Do you know your hardiness zone? I grow Peppermint, Spearmint, Apple mint, Orange mint, Pineapple mint, Bannana mint and Ginger mint, in Zone 5. The hardiest and most vigorous are the first 4.

Don't use clay pots if you are in frost prone areas. One freeze-thaw cycle will destroy them.

I grow mine in 2 foot wide by 15 inch deep plastic tubs with holes drilled in the bottom. These are sunk in the ground leaving about an inch above ground. I still have to watch for the mints sending runners above ground, but they don't get out below the ground. Perhaps the climate keeps them in check somewhat.

The more vigorous mints need to be thinned about every 2-3 years or they will become a tight mass in the bucket.

Planting mint in a large plastic container has worked for me.

I originally planted in terra cotta, but between weather damage and the thug nature of mint roots, these pots disintegrated. I've had no trouble with the large plastic pots, gravel in the bottom AND the pot bottom left ON.

{{gwi:886635}}

There are 4 pots of mint planted in the 4 corners of the sundial bed. As Violet suggested, you do need to trim the edges to keep the plants from "walking out". This bed is supposed to be a thyme clock with the mints marking the 12, 3, 6, and 9....but the thymes keep walking around. I plan to rework the bed using hammer-in edging to firm up the borders of the creeping thymes.

What a pretty bed! That's a really nice idea, granite!

Sharon -- Ginger mint is hardy for you? Mine died the two years I had it in Central Ohio. Of course it was in a big plastic pot, so it was more exposed than in the ground. I believe I lost my pineapple mint a few times when it was in pots, but now it and the lime mint survive the winter in their own little brick bed. The chocolate mint survives the winter in a square plastic planter, but it emerges well after the others in the spring, and some winters I've lost a whole side of the planter, I assume to frost.

Dangerous as there are, there's nothing like fresh mint right outside you back door, is there?

Hey Sharon_SD,

Thank you SO much for your helpful information. [Sorry, GameBird, i hope you don't mind that i'm repeatedly including my own comments in your thread - my apologies].

Sharon, i'm in Zone 3A (Calgary). Regarding the list you mentioned - i've seen the first two types of mint sold in stores around here, but not the others.

Well i thought i would give it one more try this year. This week i've bought one small mint plant in a container; if it grows stronger, i'll transplant it outside. i REALLY hope it works out this time :)

If it doesn't, lol i could always open a very successful mint-eradicating business ;~)

alison,

Ginger mint and Pineapple mint are both hardy for me but I keep them against the side of the house which provides protection and mulch well during the winter with a good layer of pin oak leaves adding another layer of protection.

The comments are helpful and interesting, even if they don't relate to my specific problem.

gamebird,

The principles can certanily apply. If you took it to the extreme you could dig out all your mint, lay a layer of gravel down, install any solid barrier a 6"-12" deep that comes up an inch or two from the soil line. Or skip the digging and install the barrier.

;)

I just dug up my newly planted mint because I knew it was invasive and wanted to put it all together to disguise my house foundation. Just how far apart do you need to plant them to keep them from cross pollinating? And how much is sheet metal? Is that something easily purchased and cut by Home Depot? And if I put them in the plastic pots, can I reuse the ones other plants from the nurseries came in or does it have to be thick? Will I have to protect them from the winters here? I'm new to the state. If so, how? How often do you have to trim the runners? Weekly? Every few days? Monthly? At the end of the season? I know that the chocolate and the orange mint are the worst offenders. And what plant, besides thyme could I let loose to fill in between the pots?

Kari

Use pretty sturdy plastic pots (wide and deep) or the mint will break through. A typical gallon nursery pot is no match for mint.

Trimming the mint every month or so will give you a good harvest for teas or potpourri and keep the mint from "running."

I don't let the mint set seeds so I don't worry about cross pollinating. When the mint is ready to flower I cut the tops off.

Don't know about sheet metal...not my plan.

Thyme is my favorite groundcover(I have at least a dozen creeping varieties), but the low-growing version of chammomile is nice. I've had no luck with Corsican mint or with Irish moss. Blue star creeper is pretty.

Good luck trying to contain your mint. Concrete blocks won't work. I naively planted three mints in my wall garden this year. The wall is almost 4 feet high and completely filled with dirt. The mint took over the entire thing, killed several of my other herbs, and managed to burrow down. It burst through the seam of the concrete block about a foot down and is now growing there as well like a strange hanging plant. Resistance is futile.

I received a free mint plant(orange, I think) with some other plants I mail ordered. Now I don't know what to do with it. After reading this thread, I'm terrified to plant it in my garden. I thought maybe in a pot on the northeast corner, where nothing else is planted. It would be in the backyard, which is fenced in. Could it escape to the front yard if I don't let it go to seed? Surely it can't be any worse than the bindweed that is trying to take over my garden!

I planted 4 ginger mint plants purchased at Canadian Tire (Sort of like home depot, but with a lot of automotive parts) straight into my garden in Calgary, and they spread to a 5' radius the first year. I have crappy, heavy clay soil, and I didn't do a thing to nurture or protect it. I have learned to live with it, rather than fight it. My best suggestion: develop a taste for tabbouleh, if you don't have one yet. Buck the mint back, and buck it back hard, and call it a salad green. Here's my recipe. It's wonderful when it's hot outside, and cooking is way too much effort.
-Equal parts mint and parsley, finely chopped, to fill 3/4 of a salad bowl
-1 cup bulger wheat, soaked in lemon juice and olive oil
-1 finely chopped tomato
-finely chopped cucumber, to taste
-salt & pepper, to taste.

you can add toasted pine nuts, if you like, or feta cheese for some protein content to make it a full meal.
Good Luck!

Years ago I heard about a man in New Orleans who really did have his entire yard planted in mint instead of grass. He and his sons picked it & sold it, tied in little bunches, to restaurants and hotels.

The idea of standing on the back steps and looking out over a field of mint has stayed with me ever since. But gamebird I can understand if that is not also your dream :)

No, that's not my dream but it is a pretty neat idea. As it turned out, the mint never spread more than a tiny bit outside the bed. It will be interesting to see if it survives a brutal Minnesota winter, assuming we have a bad one. I don't think it's hardy up here, but last winter was real mild so a lot of my herbs made it through just fine (including the mint and spearmint). I never did get around to putting sheet metal in or any other barrier.

Reminds me that I need to get out there and clip it to the ground before it snows. The exposed plants always get hung up on the snow shovel if I don't cut them.

Sorry to resurrect an ancient thread, but does anyone have any fresh ideas? I just purchased a house, and with spring coming on all kinds of surprises are coming up out of the ground. Alas, the former owner seems to think that plastic sheeting was effective deterrent -- HA! I have mint coming up through the plastic, growing on top in the mulch (which is mostly composted now) and even taking over and growing up in the gravel driveway.

"Containment" seems to be too little, too late. I don't want to use something like Round-Up to hold it back -- for one thing, the whole area appears to have formerly been a lovely herb garden and I want to see what else grows up and I will want to eat it, for another, I don't like the stuff anyway and I don't want to be constantly spraying it.

Any other ideas? Can a fight fire with fire on this one, namely, to plant other invasive herbs and hope they keep each other tamed?

Although it IS prettier than bermuda grass!

I`m glad I planted my mint in a large bucket, at first I had it in the sun, it didn`t like sun, and dried up, so I moved it to shade and it`s very happy and green now.
Good luck

It occurs to me that if you plant another invasive herb to 'fight' the mint, alabamanicole, you would still end up outcompeting the other plants, and as you say, you want to see what else grows up there. I understand that you don't want to use Roundup, but maybe you could containerise those plants you want to keep temporarily (making sure there are no trailing bits of mint root mixed up with their roots) and then use roundup on the mint and leave it a while before replanting. I don't usually bother with weedkiller but I found it effective to vastly reduce the amount of bindweed in my garden, which used to be highly problematic when I first bought this property, and for any bits I missed I now just dig up the roots. If you have to leave any plants in situ, I used a paint-on type of glysophate instead of a spray and then tied plastic bags temporarily over the leaves I'd painted if they were in danger of brushing against other plants. I don't know if that version would be available or not in your country. Flame-weeding might be an alternative to using Roundup but not having tried it myself, I don't know.

I'd recommend:

Pot up the herbs that you want to keep.

Weed out all the remaining mint that you can see. Do not till. Use a fork to turn the soil to remove roots as you can. Wait 1 week, weed. Wait another week, weed. Now turn the soil by double digging, and if able sift the soil to remove all roots. Cover the soil with 4 (or more) layers of cardboard and mulch.

Any emerging mint after this point you should be able to see and dig out. Do not plant in this bed too soon, or you will again be tangling with mint everywhere.

I have purchased a house that has mint growing on the side of it. Its not a very big area but I have read the horror stories about mint and I am not fond of it. How can I really get rid of this menace??

There is mint next to a raspberry bed Im just starting, will the mint take over the raspberry bed?

That's a good question, Kim. I was wondering the same thing...since I would like to use mint around the raspberry bed, to keep the deer out.

Is it possible to use #5 plastic barriers (so that a barrel pot had 4 sections) to keep 4 different types of mint from competing? I prefer not to plant plastic in my pot but keep reading #5 is okay to garden with.