Tips for Growing Mint

2 Materials
$4
15 Minutes
Easy
Mint is a fabulous herb for use in cooking and keeping certain bugs at bay. Here are some helpful tips for growing and maintaining mint!
Mint is fragrant perennial plant that can be grown indoors as a houseplant or outdoors in the garden. The versatile plant can be used in culinary applications, for medicinal purposes, to freshen the air or breath, keep bugs at bay, or simply to look at. The many varieties of mint, including  peppermint: (Mentha x piperita), spearmint (Mentha spicata), pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) and citrus mint (Mentha x piperita var. citrata) all have one thing in common ā€“ a square stem.
Start with small plants and plant two, two feet apart in the selected outdoor location. Plants will spread via underground rhizomes and horizontal runners and fill in a barren area within a couple of years, much like  lemon balm.
The mature size for mint will be around two feet tall and four feet wide. The plant can be trained to grow vertically and used as a ground cover if needed. The plant top can be pinched out to keep it at any height desired, or use your mint on a regular basis to keep the plant size under control. Regularly pinching the top out will keep container grown mint bushy and compact. Mint produces tiny flowers if left unpruned (the bees love these!).


For growing indoors, containers of mint should be placed in a bright location, but not in direct sunlight. Mint will bring a pop of bright color to the space and a lovely scent as well.   
Growing mint is easy and the plants themselves are almost maintenance free. Apply a two-inch layer of organic mulch around plants to help keep soil moist, especially during hot and dry summer months.


Mint plants start out slow the first year of planting, but will soon take over an area if not controlled. The underground runners and rhizomes spread quickly to start new plants, fortunately the roots are very shallow and mint can easily be controlled by pulling up unwanted plants. A physical barrier, like a walkway or landscape timbers, will keep the growing mint within the desired boundary.
Suggested materials:
  • Mint   (Lowes)
  • Compost   (Lowes)
Courtney |The Kitchen Garten
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  1 question
  • Erin Peters-Fortunato Erin Peters-Fortunato on Oct 04, 2018

    I have a mint garden, saying this because it took control of my garden over the tears which is fine with me. I would like to plant some indoors this winter. Any suggestions on how to move then?

Comments
Join the conversation
Next