# My mint plantation has been clear-cut!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 10, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450 "2005-08-10T15:36:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/1 "2005-08-10T15:36:43Z")
Arggh!
We live in an apartment in a big Victorian mansion. The landlords live upstairs. We have a lovely vegetable garden in the back, and there is a big poorly-maintained flower garden along the side of the house. Most of the flower garden is weeds, and the summer’s been so hot and dry that it’s been drought-resistant weeds lately. (Note that when we moved in we offered to look after that garden too, if they would help us out with the costs of planting, and they said no.) But there is a huge, glorious patch of mint at one end that I have been using to season my water, tea, iced tea, salads, etc etc etc all summer. Yum.
Or, should I say, there _was_ a huge, glorious patch of mint. Imagine my horror yesterday when I headed out for a sprig, and found the whole flower (weed) garden, mint and all, razed to stumps.
Oh, the ignorance of landlords. I have no words. I’m gutted. Devastated. I know, it wasn’t MY mint, but … but …
_sigh_ Anyone know how long it takes mint to grow back from a brush-cut?
Further, anyone know how squash plants can be trained to reach out and strangle ignorant landlords?
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### Author:  [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/2 "2005-08-10T15:42:25Z")
Have you talked with the landlords about it? They made a mistake, without knowing them, they may feel terrible about it if told.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/3 "2005-08-10T15:43:47Z")
The thing about mint is – you can’t kill it. There will be plenty more where that came from. Seriously. The stuff is sci-fi-movie tenacious.
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### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/4 "2005-08-10T15:49:17Z")
I killed the mint I planted last summer. I have no idea how. I planted it in one of those half-barrrel things, since I knew it would spread and take over the world if I planted it in the ground.
This summer, I waited, and waited, and waited, and the mint never came back. I killed mint. I must be some sort of superhero.
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### Author:  [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/5 "2005-08-10T15:49:54Z")
Yeah, I’m with **twickster**. When we planted mint this year, our only concern was putting it in the most inhospitable spot we could find, in hopes of keeping it in check. Cutting it down will probably make it grow back faster and thicker than before.
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### Author:  [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/6 "2005-08-10T16:05:40Z")
I think squash plants strangle everything _except_ landlords as a rule. And the mint will come back – they’re invasive, and in fact pretty hard to get rid of.
If you want some completely unsolicited advice, I’d recommend relocating the mint away from the building. A Victorian house will have shed a certain amount of lead paint over the years, and the concentrations of lead in the soil are bound to be highest right next to the foundation. Certain plants – and I’m not sure how mint is in this regard – will take up the lead from the soil.
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### Author:  [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/7 "2005-08-10T16:15:04Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#):
>
> Have you talked with the landlords about it? They made a mistake, without knowing them, they may feel terrible about it if told.
_sigh_
Yes, I’m sure they would be sorry if I told them. Just like they were sorry that my derailleur somehow got bent when they moved my bike to re-tile the floor. And they’re sorry my bike then got stolen when they made me lock it up outside, against my wishes and protestations about living in the (alleged) bike theft capital of North America. And they’re sorry that my keyboard got busted when the roof leaked on it, after I asked them to come in and fix the leaky roof. (They were, however, surprisingly not sorry when my housemate got carbon monoxide poisoning from their amateur attempt at installing a gas system.)
Not that I’m bitter or anything. It’s just time to move, is all.
> [@twickster](#):
>
> The thing about mint is – you can’t kill it.
Yes, this is why I’m grateful they razed the mint and not, say, the tomatoes. (Because apparently those are for the racoons. But that’s another Pit thread.) But I was getting accustomed to handfuls of fresh mint every day and now there has been a substantial interruption in supply. Perhaps this should be a lesson about mint gluttony. I was getting very spoiled for a while.
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### Author:  [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/8 "2005-08-10T16:21:41Z")
> [@Athena](#):
>
> I killed the mint I planted last summer. I have no idea how. I planted it in one of those half-barrrel things, since I knew it would spread and take over the world if I planted it in the ground.
>
> This summer, I waited, and waited, and waited, and the mint never came back. I killed mint. I must be some sort of superhero.
Did you cut the bottom of the barrel out? If not, it’s possible the water pooled around the roots and drowned them.
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### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/9 "2005-08-10T16:27:13Z")
> [@Grey](#):
>
> Did you cut the bottom of the barrel out? If not, it’s possible the water pooled around the roots and drowned them.
I’m pretty sure it had a hole in the bottom. It’s not a real half-barrel, it’s one of those half-barrel planter thingies you get at the plant nursery.
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### Author:  [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/10 "2005-08-10T16:31:54Z")
> [@Athena](#):
>
> I killed the mint I planted last summer.
I too have managed to kill mint when trying to plant it. My attempt was even in the ground, not a container. Couldn’t get it to grow for nuthin’.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/11 "2005-08-10T16:32:26Z")
> [@Athena](#):
>
> I killed the mint I planted last summer. I have no idea how. I planted it in one of those half-barrrel things, since I knew it would spread and take over the world if I planted it in the ground.
>
> This summer, I waited, and waited, and waited, and the mint never came back. I killed mint. I must be some sort of superhero.
You are weird. 🙂
To the OP: Don’t worry, it should easily be back in a couple of weeks, if not sooner. That stuff is _scary_. Mint tea is yummy.
This is probably going to get move to MPSIMS, BTW. Not even venom.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/12 "2005-08-10T16:33:30Z")
Not \*enough \* venom.
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### Author:  [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/13 "2005-08-10T16:38:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> You are weird.
It’s not Athena who’s weird; it’s the climate where she lives that’s weird. I think the growing season up that way is what, about 7 days each side of the summer solstice? 'Bout two weeks, is that right?
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/14 "2005-08-10T17:08:50Z")
My guess is that just about anything planted in a container and left to overwinter in it will die in northern climes. Plants get their winter insulation from being in the ground, not in a container. I managed to kill daisies in a planter - the noxious weeds of the west.
I’m sorry to hear about your landlords razing the plants, **cowgirl**. I’m sure it was easier than weeding or something extreme like that. :rolleyes: to your useful plant killing landlords.
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### Author:  [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/15 "2005-08-10T17:11:00Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> This is probably going to get move to MPSIMS, BTW. Not enough venom.
I know. I’m too sad to be venomous. And besides, my venom would probably be minty-flavoured anyway, from all I’ve consumed in the past few months (see above re: mint gluttony).
I tried to transplant mint once. I thought I could just pull up a bit of mine (well, my landlords’, I guess) and take it to my friend’s house. Several hours, much blood/sweat/tears, and many garden tools later, I had managed to hack out a bit - those roots don’t fool around, let me tell you.
It struggled along in the pot for a while and eventually sprung to life, but didn’t last the winter.
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### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/16 "2005-08-10T17:17:55Z")
> [@cowgirl](#):
>
> _sigh_
>
> Yes, I’m sure they would be sorry if I told them. Just like they were sorry that my derailleur somehow got bent when they moved my bike to re-tile the floor. And they’re sorry my bike then got stolen when they made me lock it up outside, against my wishes and protestations about living in the (alleged) bike theft capital of North America. And they’re sorry that my keyboard got busted when the roof leaked on it, after I asked them to come in and fix the leaky roof. (They were, however, surprisingly not sorry when my **housemate got carbon monoxide poisoning from their amateur attempt at installing a gas system**.)
>
> Not that I’m bitter or anything. It’s just time to move, is all.
(Emphasis mine)
Boy Howdy is it ever.
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### Author:  [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/17 "2005-08-10T17:51:22Z")
If you hadn’t let the weeds get out of control…
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/18 "2005-08-10T17:55:19Z")
> [@Homebrew](#):
>
> I too have managed to kill mint when trying to plant it. My attempt was even in the ground, not a container. Couldn’t get it to grow for nuthin’.
Did you forget to add the pepper? It’s very important.
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/19 "2005-08-10T17:55:34Z")
> [@twickster](#):
>
> The thing about mint is – you can’t kill it. There will be plenty more where that came from. Seriously. The stuff is sci-fi-movie tenacious.
That’s what i was going to say. We had mint in our small back yard when i last lived in Sydney, and no matter how frequently we cut it, and even tried to pull it all up, it just kept growing back in a very short amount of time.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mint-plantation-has-been-clear-cut/316450/20 "2005-08-10T18:20:23Z")
I too have killed mint, but then I’m very talented. People say “you can’t kill mint” or “you can’t kill daylilies” or whatever, and I say, “You guys are amateurs.” This wasn’t at all in the winter, and I live in South Carolina. I should be _drowning_ in mint. But no.
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