In my teens I planted a little mint beside the house. After a while, it took over a good patch of yard. This was in the Antelope Valley (Mojave Desert). Dad put down about eight thousand cubic yards of fertiliser for the lawn, and kept it well watered. It was desert when we moved there. One of my after-school chores was to pick every living plant out of a three-foot by about 40-foot strip of the back yard. Do another strip the next day, and repeat until there was nothing but sand. When it was clear, dad put down the fertiliser and grass seeds. Anyway, it was a lush lawn, and the mint seemed to like it too.
So up here in the PNW, I planted three spearmint plants from the nursery in a 12-inch pot. I planted four more outside the front window. The ones in front will receive plenty of rain, and Mrs. L.A. waters the plants on the deck occasionally. I’m hoping that the plants outside the front window will spread like the ones in the AV did, and choke out weeds. Do you think they will?
So once I have a bountiful crop of mint, what can I do with it? I can start drinking, and make mojitos. A sprig of mint is nice in a glass of iced tea. I love mint in Vietnamese food, but I haven’t attempted to cook any. Mrs. L.A. doesn’t care for lamb, and I don’t prefer mint with lamb anyway. Recipes, anyone?
I can affirm that mint grows out of control in NW Ohio, which gets a fair amount of rain, though not so much cloudiness as where you are. I don’t think you’ll have to worry about the mint not growing.
By “fertilizer” do you mean compost/manure or do you mean chemical fertilizer? Because we’re trying to figure out what to do with the swathes of our property where sand was carted in to make it suitable for horseriding. We don’t have horses. We do like to garden.
I prefer peppermint for my mojitos, and I put it in tabbouleh, too. It will most certainly choke out any weeds foolish enough to get in its way.
Mint is a weed. My daughter in maybe second grade brought home one plant in a pot from a school fund-raiser and it has taken over a goodly portion of out yard. I make mint tea and there are certainly other things that can be done with it. Just google for mint recipes. Mint jelly is good.
This. Just try to get it not to grow. The previous owner of our place planted some in the corner of a bed, and I think it will take Agent Orange and a barrel of gasoline to kill it all.
I planted one 2" pot of mint along one edge of my garden and have done battle with it taking over ever since. I do not water it. I do not look after it in any way. All it gets is natural rain. My only success in controlling it has been intense rototilling followed by heavy mulching. It still pops up, zombie-like, every year.
You’ll never have enough recipes to use it up, so use every single suggestion you get here!
If you intend drinking it you may be well served by infusing a bottle of white rum with a pile of mint. It only takes a few days of shaking, storing and then straining. You end up with something perfect for adding to many drinks - mojitos, hot chocolate, iced tea or home made lemonade.
Moroccan mint tea! You can’t escape it when you go to Marrakech or Casablanca. Pour boiling water over a handful of fresh leaves in a teapot and stir in a tabespoon or two of sugar. Anything you don’t drink hot is delicious iced.
Mint Juleps! Muddle mint and sugar with a splash of water at the bottom of tall glasses – silver cups, if you have them – fill with crushed ice, and top up with Bourbon.
Most Greek and Indian recipes call for a hint of mint. You’ll want at least a tablespoon in a yogurt raita – chopped cucumber, tomato, scallion salad, with yogurt, a touch of cumin, and fresh mint – which is a natural accompaniment to any meat curry.
Mint plants also serve as a natural mosquito repellent. This may not be an issue in some parts of the country but mosquitos are a nuisance in Michigan.
I put mint leaves in my Moscow mules with limes grey goose and ginger beer…
The only mint I grow is a spearmint variety called “Kentucky Colonel”. It’s in a small border up against the house, and gets just a couple hours of sun a day during late spring and early summer; otherwise it’s in shade. For that reason it has not spread wildly. I keep telling myself that I will pick a couple sprigs to put in a mint julep to drink while watching the Kentucky Derby. Any year now.
The only way I’d grow mint in a favorable location in a garden is to put it in a large bottomless pot, and then watch it like a hawk for runners.
This.^ It will take over. If you plant it, consider a barrier to stop it where you want it to stop. I had a plant under my hose that I ignored completely, except to pull out when it started spreading too far. While I had tenants in the house (who did not care for the landscaping in any way) the mint took over the entire bed. It grew in so thick it choked off 3 mature rose bushes that were several years old and well established. I’ve ripped it all out, and I still keep finding new “volunteers”.
I’d look for other ground cover and plant a few mint plants in pots to use for cooking.
