HERB - Mint

Sigrid PW SigridPW at aol.com
Thu May 21 20:18:04 PDT 1998


Allilyn wrote:
>How deep does the container have to be to provide enough dirt for the
>roots?  

Mint will grow anywhere.  Seriously.  Hardpacked clay, rocks, potting soil.
It isn't picky.  Their roots will spread, and the stems send out roots at
every joint that comes near water or dirt.  

>And wouldn't you have to stay home and water it instead of going
>away for long week=ends and wars?  

Naahh!  Just water when you get back and it'll perk right back up.  In the
gardening books, it recommends cutting it back to the ground once a year,
anyway.  It thrives on mistreatment.  It does get even, however.  :o)

>Couldn't you just surround it with that black plastic edging?

You could, but it wouldn't help.  The roots will trail beyond the plastic and
send up new plants.  The flowers (yes, they have very pretty flowers) cast
seeds everywhere.  And, if any of the stems can reach beyond the plastic, it
will start a new plant there.  They are vey ingenious.  

>Is there a trailing variety for the outer edges??

Yes, there are many varieties of mint.  Corsican mint looks like "baby's
tears" but has a nice mint smell.  Prefers shade.  But, truly, any mint can be
draped over the edge of a planter.  The stems are very flexible and hang well.
They will even reach out of a pot to the ground (drive to reproduce and take
over the world and all!)  The problem with putting them in a pot with anything
else is mint will probably choke out whatever you put them in with.  They
spread well, and don't like to share space, especially limited space.  But
they would be better than faded plastic geraniums.  :o)

Enjoy!

Sigrid
============================================================================
Go to http://www.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.



More information about the Herbalist mailing list