Growing Mint in D/FW Texas

I want to plant several different types of mint and some other herbs but frequently have more questions than answers after reading Plant Files.

As an example, Chocolate Mint. Can it take "full sun" that we get in D/FW area of Texas? Soil: Does it do best in lean soil or rich soil? (I wish Plant Files would list the soil in that manner.)

Thanks.

D n P, First things first. If you do NOT want a yard full of mint, you should plan 2 plant mint in containers. Mint is extremely invasive. Now, with that said mint is extremely easy to grow. It can take the Texas full sun for part of the day, but probably would appreciate an evening break with some shade. It likes water. Mine is in a 24" planter, planted only halfway up to keep it contained. I water deeply daily or as needed to keep it from drying out. Throw a little fert on it occasionally and it'll be fine. The more you pinch, the bushier it'll get. That's all I know. Hope it helped! Linda

Put it in a pot. Don't even let it LOOK at a bed or it'll take the whole thing captive! LOL

I used just regUlar soil not to rich not to lean..Most are planted in containers Im south of you in zone 8B. Mine got about 4 hrs of sun a day,the rest of the time light shade I had to water it everyday cause of the heat. By the time shade got to it it would looked like it was dying it was so wilted but after a few hrs in the shade it'd perk back up.. Mints are tough plants. I have pineapple, chocolate, lemon, spearmint, catnip, and orange .. You can counter sink the pot but theres still a chance it will get away from you. I have my spearmint in the ground and in the spring I take a serated knife and cut a circle the size I want it to be in to the dirt about a deap as the knife will go, cutting the roots so it wont spread as much. I still get some spreading but not as much as if I just left it unchecked. good luck !!

I think soil and "water" is the key to it really taking over in ground. I've not had a problem with it becoming invasive, in fact it struggles to stay alive in ground for me as I won't water and my soil is poor and fairly compacted. For that reason most of mine are potted. A friend lets his spread as he loves to mow over it and enjoys the smell. Currently growing apple, spearmint, peppermint, orange (Bergamot), mountain mint and lemon balm. I've had pennyroyal, chocolate and pineapple but they suffered under my neglect. Most die down in the heat and drought of summer and will come back from roots in spring for me.

Most herbals in general do not require rich, fertile soil although moisture is a necessity. You mentioned PlantFiles, I am guessing you have also been to the Herb forum?

Yes. Lots of help there, in general, but have learned the hard way with some other things in the past that "full sun" on plant labels does not always apply to Texas full sun, unless you want something to turn out looking like cooked spinach. LOL. That's what I love about having a Texas forum.

As far as soil, rich vs. lean, I'm trying to be more careful because I recently destroyed my Katie petunias that had done very well in poor soil and this spring I decided to be "good" to them and enrich the soil with some of my compost. Well, one by one each mound has developed crown rot and died and I could just cry.

DNP

Yes, I understand on the TX sun/heat and even in Texas it is so different across the state.

What other herbs are you hoping to grow?

If it gets too much water, it'll die. A few years ago, when we had such a rainy June, my chocolate mint died because of the amount of rain we got. My MIL in TN has some growing in her front flower beds and I love the smell, but it's taken over both of the beds because she's not able to get out and tend to them due to health issues. But she loves the smell of it, so that's okay.

Right now, I have a cutting from her yard growing in a pot and then I also have some pineapple and some other kind growing in containers.

I have room to spare so I planted the mints I got from friends in the ground in an area that gets morning shade and evening shade and I have not had cooked mint and all the varieties have just loved it

Mibus, do you keep them watered?

this year yes they have been watered but that was with everything else and when I planted them to start wtih they got watered to keep things moist till they were established other wise I don't give them any special attention and they did spread but I just pull out what has grown where I don't want it

It's easier to keep em watered if they're in a container....

I'd love to have mints that doesn't need fairly frequent watering or some serious shade in this odious summer-from-the-devil. There aren't even many mints I can even plant in the ground here. Droughts that set new records and heat that set new records together seem to make it super hard on most mints. The idea of my mints being in the ground and taking over anywhere...oh, I'd love it!

I have a bed that gets afternoon shade and lots of morning/early afternoon sun and the mints just couldnt take it. They melted long ago and only the natives survive. However, the last to go was the pineapple mint and it is my favorite. It was quite tough but not tough enough.

LindaTX ~ you might want to look at this mint. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/94040/

I think the small leaf structure makes it far more durable from heat and drought than the large leaf mints. (less evaporation via leaves) I had acquired one on discount in the fall of '07. I planted it where it received evening shade. I watered it minimally for the first summer and this year it has done all right with no more water than sparse rain. It would probably be a prettier plant with adequate moisture but...

After I purchased it, I found a patch of this same mint growing at the end of our drive, in the heat by the highway, receiving sweltering evening sunshine. This summer, the power line right of way was cleared & they got it. I am hoping it will return from the roots. I still have my purchased plant and am attempting to save seeds. Unsure if they will be viable. It smells as wonderful as any of the mints, just not lush looking.

This message was edited Aug 4, 2009 9:05 PM

Yes, that might be good. I forgot...I do have another kind of mountain mint I planted years ago, an unidentified kind. It's usually pretty tough, but it's looking kind of bad right now, gets too much sun so there's some brown leaves. The narrow leaves might be an advantage, mine have leaves about one inch or so wide.

I have several mints planted in a raised bed in the middle of my back yard in Sugar Land. They take the full sun without whimpering. They do travel but are easy to pull up. Chocolate mint is one I grow, but I find that the local cats are attracted to it. When I pull it I just toss it on the lawn and it smells so good when mowing.

How many I grow will depend on whether I can put it in the ground or not. I don't want a bunch of pot plants to have to get a babysitter for if we go out of town for a few days or week. Right now I just have Chocolate Mint and would like to have a lot of varieties of mint. Plus culinary herbs.

Question for those who have talked about mint spreading. Does it spread underground like nutsedge? Or is it more like sweet potato vine? I don't mind at all keeping sweet potato vine shaped but sure don't want something I have to dig roots out a foot deep in order to stop the spread. Some people refuse to have a Mexican petunia in their yard because of it coming up everywhere. I don't mind it at all because I just pull it up and throw it away or give to others.

We will be starting a total new design and planting of the back yard in September, the final stage, we hope, of 5 years of changes due to water flow issues. It will be a butterfly garden. Netafim drip irrigation in elevated beds. Stone paths, etc.

Thanks.

Wow! sounds great! be sure to post pictures when you have it ready, or even during the construction.
By the way, we are trying to set a date for the North Texas roundup, will you be coming?
Josephine.

my mint spreads above ground mostly the branches hit the ground and root and spread on

I also have rosemary , basil , thyme, oregano and lemon grass all int eh ground and do not take it up for winter

Yes, if I'm not mistaken the way the mint spreads is by underground stolens or runners. I am not certain of the depth which probably varies with the quality of the soil.

Like Mibus, I have upright and trailing rosemary, oregano, lemon thyme, fennel and lemon balm in ground also. I am told I could plant the bay tree or Laurus nobilis in ground too. I know you are perhaps a bit colder but if these plants are sheltered near a building and well mulched they will overwinter without difficulty.

edited to add... I also have lemon grass in the ground but it only sparingly came back this past spring. Mibus, do you mulch yours well?

This message was edited Aug 5, 2009 7:19 PM

I have Laurus nobilis planted in the ground, it has been there for about 20 years and never froze.

I've started a DG blog with a few photos of our landscape renovation. Thought maybe it would encourage someone else who is going through a trying experience with their landscape. And as we work on the back yard, I'll have a lot more questions re butterfly garden plants and designs.

Yes, DH and I would love to come to the North Texas RU. Just now saw that thread. About all I'd have to trade, though, is llama poop. LOL. Guess I better start grinding and bagging that, just in case anyone wants it.

That is not a bad idea, last time someone brought rabbit manure in a plastic hanging files container for a door prize, she called it ( Le Poop ) and it was very much welcomed.
I am sure your Llama poop would be very popular, since most people want a good organic fertilizer.
Josephine.

Pod the only mulch on my lemon grass is the grass as it fades for the winter

We had mint for many years
till we built a new house on top
of it which did it in LOL

DnP we live relatively speaking,
fairly close to you, close in
Texas terms, that is. We live
on the black clay side of I35
though.

In the black clay the mint
did just fine, I had three
varieties which I had ordered
frim Nichols Herbs in the
Pacific Northwest, I forget
if that is WA or OR.

I used the benight neglect
method, only doing as my
Daddy taight me, about
planting mint under the
water faucet si that whenever
you turn on the water, the
mint gets a drink.

I did not have to mollycoddle
it and it was fine winter and
summer, wet weather or dry.
It WAS in the ground.

Plants in the ground do not
need as much attnention
as they do not dry out like
potted plants do,

That is the case for any
type of plant not just mint.

I do not see mint as overly
invasive, but if it DOES
escape into you grass, it
is just a blessing to smell
it when you mow!!!

It spreads by roots, but
they are small surface
roots and can be pulled
out of the ground quite
easily, They are not deep
and do not have to be
dug out with any sort of
struggle or tool.

Just pass on the cuttings
(or pullings) on to omeone
else who wants them.

I HOPE you go to the RU - please
reserve me some of that Poop!

And if anyone has mint cuttings I will
gladly take them.

Hugs, BajaBlue






































































If anyone wants
Tuscan Blue rosemary,
let me know now so I can
begin rooting it


Hugs, BajaBlue who has
low grade RU fever....

And I'd like some of that Tuscan Blue rosemary, please.

Will start processing the llama poop. For those who don't know, llama beans (poop) is about the size and shape of a small grape, usually very firm. And it breaks down VERY slowly. I grind it up because I don't like the look of it on top of the ground, too much like large rat poop. LOL.

Here's link to info on its composition: http://www.hidog.info/LlamaManure.html

That was a great link DNP, I have a question, do you wear a mask when you grind them?
Josephine.

This message was edited Aug 7, 2009 12:14 PM

If the llama beans have been moistened for long enough to soften them and then process using screen in frame, I don't wear a mask because there's no dust that way. When I make 1-gallon ziplock bags of it as gifts for gardening friends, I don't do it if the wind is blowing and use a mask and goggles when pouring and grind it in an old blender and don't take the lid off until the dust settles.

Fascinating! I just had a mental picture of you with mask and goggles processing llama beans! LOL!

Betcha you could just take
some pellets whole, and out
them in an empty gallon jug
with a lid add water and make
llama tea...

I am always looking for ways
to recycle gallon jugs- hate
to just throw them in the land
fill, and we have to but our
drinking water becayse the
"potable" "approved" water
tastes so nasty out here!

I know what you mean about crappy water! We get water from those machines that dispense it, that way we can reuse bottles...costs less, also.

We used ti di that at HEB
till they removed the machines.

I love my spring water though.
Fir a while during the drought
the tap waer smelled so bad,
But that we had some rain,
it is odorless again and i dont
feel so bad about even watering
the plants with it !

Linda are you going to the RU??
(any of them) ?

Yes Linda, Please come to the one in Arlington, it would be a first for you and we would love to have you here.
Josephine.

Hopefully I can at least go to a swap in San Antonio. But I may not be able to go to any this fall. I've been having some tests done to try to figure how why I haven't been feeling well. That's part of why I've been so darn cranky...not just the drought and heat...I have another excuse!

Oh Linda, I am sorry, I hope it is nothing serious. I sure wish you could make it.