Why you might not want to plant mint

[rubyduby]

I have heard from many on here that mint is VERY aggressive. Well unless you experience the ferocity

and tenacity you might not think it’s a big deal but it has become a full time job just keeping it in check.

 

[j.w]

My mint smelled so nice a long time ago but I said bye bye to it and will never have it again! Ajuga tried to take over too and also the pretty Chameleon plant.

 

[Tula]

I have mint planted in a pot, which I sink into the ground. So far it hasn't jumped the pot.

 

[j.w]

I have mint planted in a pot, which I sink into the ground. So far it hasn't jumped the pot.

The wind can blow the seeds along w/birds or other critters so just watch out for it!

 

[bagsmom]

Chameleon plant is evil!

 

[addy1]

I have mint, the bees love it, easy to yank from the, very shallow rooted. Also have mountain mint, nice bushes full of flowers in the fall.

 

[Lisak1]

If you have the space any of these plants mentioned can be wonderful. If you have a small pond or yard, you can easily be overtaken!

 

[BKHpondcritters]

If you have the space any of these plants mentioned can be wonderful. If you have a small pond or yard, you can easily be overtaken!

This is very true. When I lived on 1/5 acre in the Chicago suburbs, I spent a lot of time & effort to irradicate the mint that was running amok on the north side of our house. Here, on 10 acres with a garden several times the size of our entire former lot, it really doesn't bother me at all to have the mint wandering around.

Although, I will admit it does tend to get a bit carried away with its own sense of importance & needs to be yanked back on a semi regular basis in certain places. But I have several plants that would fall into that category, both in & out of the pond! lol

 

[Lisak1]

We have forget me not that spreads itself hither and yon. But it's lovely and easy to pull so I just let it be. All about our tolerance level I suppose!

 

[j.w]

Yep me too, I let the Forget Me Not's do their thing unless they pop up in a spot I really don't want them to spread. Easy pullers!

 

[Mgessert]

I trimmed my mint back by about half yesterday and am enjoying mint tea today. The plant is in a pot, so not a problem, and it seems to be helping to keep the algae at bay so far.

 

[GBBUDD]

i didn't plant mint it hitch hiked from somewhere and it over night took over the lower bog

 

[cas]

I had read that mint was invasive, but I needed to add something to the pond to help with the suspended algae. Below is a picture from 2022 showing how the mint has spread in 5 years. I had hoped that planting the mint along the edge of the pond where the pond is raised would help keep it from spreading into the yard. You can see at the far right of the picture that the mint did jump the pond, but I removed this plant soon after I took this picture.