Mint has a bad reputation for taking over the garden, for good reason. But, there are many reasons to grow mint in your backyard without fear!
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Here are some tips for growing and using mint:
Even though mint is a highly beneficial plant, due to its spreading nature, many of us opt to just go without it all together.
The problem with doing this is that the mint wins.
Seriously, though. We humans are definitely smart enough to outwit the mint, making it possible to enjoy all of its benefits.
Mint is a tasty plant, and there are all kinds of delicious recipes that use mint. Mint is also a powerful medicinal herb.
There are many different varieties of mint such as peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, and apple mint, all with similar growing habits.
There are also other plants that are in the mint family that grow with abandon such as lemon balm, bee balm, and catnip that can be included in this discussion as well.
Don’t fear growing mint in your garden! Here’s why.
Mint Can Only Move So Fast
The truth of the matter is that mint is a plant, and while it can and will most definitely spread, it takes some time for this to happen.
I would steer clear of planting mint in or anywhere near your regular garden beds, as it will eventually try to take over.
It’s a great plant for a rocky herb garden, a neglected corner of your yard, or a high traffic area.
This is a mint plant that is just starting to spread after one year in the ground.
Mint will spread from its underground roots, and can cover great distances and go under obstacles to get to where it wants to go, so keep that in mind when planting.
But, this won’t happen overnight, although it may sometimes seem like it. Just keep a close eye on it and harvest any new plants that you don’t want.
Mint Can Be Contained
Probably the best way to grow mint is in a container. This will ensure that it will stay where you want it, without any worry of garden takeover.
If grown in a pot, it tends to get a little sparse and scraggly looking after a couple of years. It never seems to do as well as mint grown in the ground, probably because it really doesn’t like being contained!
Since the rhizomes that cause the mint to spread don’t go very deep, it’s also possible to plant mint in a raised bed without worrying too much about it jumping ship.
It will try and take over the raised bed, however, so make sure to plant other things that can keep up with it.
Other hardy perennial herbs like rosemary, sage, oregano, and thyme can usually tolerate the aggressive nature of mint, especially if they are already established.
You Can Take as Much Mint as You Please (& then some)
The best part about growing a plant that is as aggressive as mint is that you can be just as aggressive back at it without worry of harming it. You can cut handfuls of mint at a time without any damage done.
See a mint plant that is growing where you don’t want it? Chop it down or pull it out and turn it into something delicious. Or cut large bundles of mint and hang to dry for use in the winter months.
Mint Grows Well in the Shade
If there is a shady area of your yard that you have trouble growing things in, try planting mint. While it prefers full sun, it can tolerate some shade, and it will probably keep it from spreading as quickly.
Regardless, I would still take the necessary precautions so that you don’t get a complete mint takeover (unless that’s what you want, of course).
Mint Can Grow from Cuttings
Mint is super easy to propagate from cuttings and will readily re-root itself. You can cut out mint where you don’t want it, put it in water until it grows some roots, then transplant it where you do want it.
In fact, you don’t even have to put it in water first as it will root right in soil. Do it as a science experiment with your kids, or root a bunch of cuttings, pot them up, and give away to friends.
Mint is the gift that keeps on giving (and giving)!
You Can Completely Ignore Mint (& it won’t feel bad)
Let your mint grow and do its thing, then take from it as much as you want, and it will still thrive. Don’t worry about watering or fertilizing it. Really, it will grow without any inputs.
Unless you’re trying to naturally thin it out, it may like a little water from time to time, but it will honestly be okay if you literally ignore it for months on end.
Mint is a great plant for lazy gardeners!
Mint Attracts Beneficial Insects (& Repels the Bad Ones)
Let your mint go to flower and it will attract bees, beneficial wasps, hoverflies (aphid eaters), and tachinid flies (parasitic on nasty bugs).
The smell of the mint plant will also repel houseflies, cabbage moths, ants, aphids, squash bugs, fleas, mosquitoes, and even mice. Not a bad deal, if you ask me!
Mint is Good for Your Pets
Chickens love fresh herbs and mint is no exception. The best part is that it’s also great for them and their coop. It keeps bugs, flies, and parasites at bay, as well as being an antioxidant and digestive aid for your flock.
Be sure to plant lots of mint (as well as other herbs) in and around the coop and run for chickens to nibble on daily.
Mint is also great for cats and dogs. Catnip is actually in the mint family, and is a favorite herb for kitties as well as humans.
While cats and dogs probably shouldn’t eat a whole lot of mint in one sitting, a little bit is great for them. It is a natural flea repellent, and I often see Cosmo the kitty rubbing up against the mint plant.
Mint is Good Food
Of course, mint is an awesome culinary herb! Cut it from the garden with abandon to make all kinds of delicious mint recipes. I particularly like to make tea with it, hot or iced!
Check out my very favorite teapot for making herbal tea here.
Turn it into mint pesto or add it to your favorite homemade cookies, brownies, or this decadent sounding fresh mint cake with with dark chocolate mint frosting.
Get creative and make mint infused honey, a gallon of mint wine, or chocolate mint extract.
This rhubarb mint jam sounds delicious, so does this traditional mint sauce for lamb. You can also just simply chop it up and add to salads or use it as a garnish.
Have a mint julep, mojito party, or raspberry mint infused wine, you deserve it!
See my post on 80+ Mint Recipes for more great ideas on how to use your mint!
Mint is Good Medicine
Mint is also an amazing medicinal herb. It is well known as a digestive aid and breath freshener, and is also good for an upset stomach.
Peppermint is especially great for headaches, and the essential oil can be rubbed on the temples for relief.
It can be helpful for seasonal allergies, and can also be added to body care products like salves and lip balms, soaps, shampoo bars, and lotions.
If you’re interested in learning more about herbal medicine, check out the awesome online courses from the Herbal Academy!
Still too scared to grow mint but want to enjoy all of its benefits? Order high quality, organic dried peppermint or spearmint from Mountain Rose Herbs (my favorite place to get organic dried herbs).
I hope this post has inspired you and given you some reasons to grow mint! It really is a versatile plant that we should not fear having in our yards. Here are some other great posts on how to use up lots of mint:
- 12 Great Ways to Use Mint and Tips for Growing It
- Preserving Mint for Food and Medicine
- More Mint Ideas
- Got Mint?
Do you grow mint in your garden? What is your favorite way to use it?
If your mint has gone running… can you exclude water from it?
You can dig a trench around it and solar-ize the soil. Place clear plastic over it and weigh the edges down with bricks, wood or rocks. Leave at least 6weeks. You may have to leave longer or turn the soil and solar-ize again. Boiling water will also kill any plant if you drench the main stem.
I live in Albuquerque, zone7b. If my mint gets out of hand I starve it of water. It retreats and around we go.
That being said. Not all mints are equal. I would never let my peppermint out of its pot! Some are too much chaos.
My mint gets a spotted blight as the summer goes on. Is it still useable. I am in zone 4. Have it on the north side of a building and it does well and I dig it as it spreads. Have a watering bin that was for cattle so is deep, I may plant it in to keep it under control more and maybe get a handle on the blight. Or do I have to start a whole new plant to stop the blight or isn’t it getting enough sun. Actually don’t think it really gets any direct sun.
I grow mint in a large outdoor container and get ants in it. I though it was an ant repellent.
Same here! I have three potted mint plants and ants have made colonies in all three!
We get regular visits from deer. They ate my tulips down to the ground. Will mint attract them or will they leave it alone. The deer don’t bother my peonies or Iris, but I really want some mint in the yard.
Hi Sharon. As far as I know, mint is an all-natural deer repellant!
Can I plant mint in a container. Our balcony is East facing Lake Michigan so it gets morning sun. Will it survive the winter outside? When would be the best time to plant?
Hi there, spring, after the first frost is the best time to plant mint. Yes, you can grow mint in a container indoors. I would probably move the plant indoors and place it near an east-facing window with direct light during winter.
I planted some mint in a small eastern facing bed in a small courtyard. It is shaded a good part of the day, and when it rains that bed gets tons of water off of the porch roof. The mint has stayed very contained and hasn’t really grown much at all. Anyway, I recently discovered Mojitos because I wanted to try using the mint. LOVE mojitos! Turns out, I didn’t have enough mint. I was using it faster than it was growing.
I did plant more in the corner of a food forest in my front yard. On one side is the driveway and on another is the sidewalk. I’m hoping that this is enough to contain it. It is south facing with the sidewalk on the southern side. My thinking is that it would want to run toward the sun! We’ll see.
I do want groundcovers to keep weeds out. I was planning on using strawberries for this, but they are not growing fast enough! My question is whether or not mint will kill anything in its path. I planted Regent serviceberries as a hedge about five feet from the sidewalk, and was thinking that I’d like flowers in front.
It would be nice to intersperse mint, too, but not if it will kill by covering everything . The soil is wonderful and loamy sand. I’d appreciate any thoughts.
Can I harvest from the mint family after it has bloomed? Will it still have the health benefits and taste ok?
Thanks for sharing all of this information. I am learning a lot.
Yes, it’s okay to harvest mint after it has flowered, however the flavor may be less intense.
If you sprayed a repellent near your mint, or too near. Can I wash the mint with what !
I personally would not use any herbs that have been sprayed.
We have been growing mint in an outdoor container now for about a year, and this month (as spring begins to send its warm days into winter), the mint has a strange almost-fishy taste! We’ve grown mint in many gardens over the years and don’t remember this flavor change showing up in our mint before. Have you ever heard of this happening?
I have not. That is so strange!
Thanks for weighing in! It’s helpful even to know it’s not a common problem!
Did you fertilise your soil and leaves with sea weed lotion or fish emulsion lately? that could be the reason.
How to get mint seed
I like Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
No I haven’t I personally would not enjoy that small or taste. Check the soil or check the water… It would be interesting to know…
What kind of container did you grow it in? If it’s plastic, make sure it’s food safe.
Hi, thanks so much for this useful article! I just wanted to let you know that the phrase is “with abandon”, not “without abandon”. :) I noticed that you used it several times, so wanted to drop the note. Looking forward to reading more!
Hi Eugenia, thanks for letting me know, that is one I get wrong a lot!
Have tried multiple times to grow mint in a container. I live in zone 9a ( hot , high desert in Calif) and it just does…too hot I guess??
Hi Jill, yes it may be too hot and perhaps too dry. Mint likes a lot of moisture.
I read that it repels wasps because they hate the smell of it. That’s why I wanted to plant it. Is that not true!!?!?!
Hi Amanda, there are many, many different species of wasps, so it’s hard to make a broad statement about it. Mint flowers do attract some beneficial pollinator wasps, which are most likely not the kind of wasps that you’re thinking of!
It’s a bad idea to plant mint if you have milkweed for Monarchs in your garden. Mint flowers will attract tachinid flies, and their larvae feed on Monarch caterpillars. They usually don’t kill their hosts until just before the caterpillars pupate. Not good.
Thank you for this information! Anything to help save the monarchs is worth knowing.
I never let my mint flower, i use it alot and have alot of Milkweed too for the Monarchs. I haven’t had any problem. Melissa R
THANK YOU! I was considering mint as a groundcover near a butterfly garden! 😲
great article…i have grown mint in ground but an going to pot it this time..I have tried catnip before but my cats eat it before it get big LOL
Good idea, Judi!
I live in the hot southwest USA desert. When I planted a little 4″ mint plant in my garden a few years ago, I had no idea what was going to happen. It’s green, it smells nice, and I use it for all kinds of things, so I didn’t mind that it took over my entire flower bed up to my front door, until SPIDERS moved in and took over, also. Now I get itchy bites every time I turn the water on in the 20′ walkway up to my front door. My gardener told me that they lived in the mint, so I put on proper clothing, still got bit, and removed all evidence of the mint. My arms are full of the battle scars from pulling it out from around my rose bushes. The roots are still there though, so the mint will come back. I’ve been spraying bug spray that you attach to the hose that says it kills spiders, for two weeks now. NOPE. I still get bit every time I go out there to water. The little buggers are fast and tricky! I’m moving soon and will never plant mint in the ground again!
See, I was thinking it would repel spiders. I’m so glad I found your comment before I planted it!
OMG l just planted it in the ground in my garden and I’m terrified of spiders… Pulling it out tomorrow and putting it in a large pot.
Awe..man that is not good about the spiders. Thank you for letting us know.
I grow mint also loved article. I’m looking for a recipe my mom used on my face when I fell on a wood heater and was burned bad. I have no scar whatsoever. It had marigold flowers linseed oil and other plants in it. I really want to find out how it was made.
Mints and I are old companions. I grow a “generic” mint in a huge pottery container. It gets leggy and freezes back every winter, but then comes back green and bushy each spring. I dehydrate it to use all year. I have chocolate mint in another shallower container. Both of the mints are on my cement patio, but get afternoon shade. I have lemon balm growing in a small (4′ X 4′) bed. It is a vigorous grower, but I keep cutting it back to use as a tea. The lemon balm and the borage are elbowing each other while two of my thymes are busily growing in another area of the same garden bed. I use some mint cuttings in my chicken coop to keep flies and odors down.
Where can I buy mint seeds to plant outside? Any kind of mint.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company is my favorite seed company and they have tons of mint to choose from.
Can Hostas make it in a field of Mint?
I have both hostas and mint in the same bed, I just have to occasionally cut the mint back. It overshadows the hostas and takes all the sunshine before they can flower.
I have mint growing next to my house. It comes in fuller and fuller each year. I’m scared to use it though and am not sure which specimen it is. It’s rather peppery. The couple times I’ve made tea with it I’ve felt stomach discomfort, so I am pausing that. I live in southern Maine. Any words of wisdom are appreciated.
I mistake stinging nettle for mint all the time… could it have been stinging nettle that you ingested instead?
I live in Germany and stingy nettle or Brennnessel here is used fresh or dried for many ailments and actually quite tasty if using fresh
Perhaps it is pennyroyal?
I bought chocolate and pineapple mint today along with lemon balm. I’ve grown mint in the past and am using pots this time. Thank you for your informative article.
I love mint!! I several varieties my favorite being Mountain Mint. I prefer to plant it under trees and as the understory from my southern trellis. It fills in beautifully and takes the place of grass (my ultimate goal is zero grass).
I hadn’t thought of adding it to my chicken run. Excellent idea.
I have a problem. I live in Bellbrook, Ohio, near Dayton, Ohio, and my yard backs up to a woods that is being taken over by Prairie Garlic which is very invasive in this area of Ohio. My husband is severely allergic to Prairie Garlic, so I would like to find herbs that don’t mind shade that I could plant to give it competition instead of using Roundup. Would mints or herbs be able to croud out the prairie garlic? I have Kentucky Colonel Mountain Mint, oregano, catnip, catmint, borage, and lemon balm in my herb garden that I could make starts if that would work.
My mint has broken out of the wine barrel it was in for years and is taking over my yard!
Putting anything in the mint family is simply not worth the trouble. I put catnip in a raised planter bed. It went down, then sideways under a concrete paver walkway and several feet of lawn and popped up through an inch or so of mulch around a pine tree. And this in Denver, which isn’t exactly a lush tropical growing climate. Never again! Where we are now, in Florida, it would probably end up in our living room carpet.
Try thinking about it in a different way – catnip and other mint family plants are amazing medicine that grow themselves with virtually no input! Do you know all of the wonderful benefits of catnip? I’d be doing a happy dance!
I totally agree! I plant mint in containers, but I keep filling up more and more of them with different varieties. They make the best tea, and additions to ice water & lemonade, and I dehydrate lots of it to use all winter. Yum!
Great article, thank you. I am going to re-pot some mint that has gotten root-bound after reading this. Also, I did plant mint in a raised garden bed (32″ high) and it went under the bed, under a rock path which included weed barrier and then into the raised garden bed next to it 3′ way. Luckily we moved because I could not get rid of it.
Hi, I keep mint in a pot for a different reason. I live in the desert, and haven’t been able to get it to grow. this year I bought a plant, that looks hearty enough, and have potted it and it’s currently on my back patio where the sun can’t get to it as much, and I will remember to water is. I put clay balls (I got them originally for and attempt at an aquaponics garden) and they soak up the excess water in the bottom of the bucket that I’ve made into my chocolate mint’s new home. My Mom always grew mint, so this is probably the 3rd time I’ve attempted to grow it here in the Phoenix area. God bless, Becky
My mom always had geraniums and do I have then also. Plants are good memory makers as well.
I grow mint in large containers, and love to use it for ice tea, lemonade, jellies, sauces, potpourri, infused oils to use in many beauty products, put it in water and a spray bottle to help as a flea repellant for my dog…..many many uses for mint. And it smells good in your yard when you brush against it. It has jumped the bed where I planted it in the ground in my earlier gardening days, and so when we mow the lawn, you can smell it. It’s wonderful!
I love mint! Yes it does grow like crazy but the spider mites keep attacking my plant. I tried soapy water and neem oil. It doesn’t not work.
Am I the only one who is having a problem with my mint? It developed mint rust and looks terrible. Also, last year it had something that looked like cabbage worms eating it too. I already threw out the chocolate mint. Is it possible to salvage my peppermint?
I have no problems with my lemon balm which I grew from seed.
Please advise.
Ok, so I did exactly what you shouldn’t do. I planted my herb garden near mint. You guessed it, it’s a fight and I lose every year.
Give it to me straight. Don’t sugar or honey coat this mint balm. I have to basically pull up all my perennial herbs and run with them to the other side of the yard, past the cement barrier and lawn, don’t I?
BTW: my foraging friend just turned me onto you and I am starting your free course. Can’t wait to harvest those Dandys!