![]() ![]() I’ve purchased mint plants from numerous places, including Home Depot, Burpee, specialty growers, and locally-owned garden centers. It’s not that it’s particularly hard to grow mint from seed, but they do have specific requirements, such as being sown under a bright light source, so germination rates can be iffy.īut the reason that mint plants are easier to find than mint seeds - take a look at your favorite online source some don’t even sell seed packets! - is because it’s simply easier for commercial growers to grow and maintain large quantities of mint plants and then separate them into starter plants in the spring ( source) than it is to harvest and save the seeds from the current crop and then sow and tend the following year. Mint is one of the few plants in the home garden that’s better to purchase as a starter plant from a grower, garden center, online, or other retail source. ![]() On a hot summer’s morning, it’s my habit to pick a few tender leaves and add them (washed, of course) to a tall glass of ice water with a thin slice of lime. If you already have mint and need to transplant it to a larger pot, or move it from a ground planting to a container, be sure to check out my guide for how to transplant mint.Īside from its sprawling growth habit, mint is a wonderful and must-grow herb. Basil is related to mint and also has four sides. The stems have four distinct sides (or, square, if you look at a cross-section of a stem cutting). Honestly, a field of spearmint sounds absolutely dreamy, but for the reality of a backyard, it’s another story entirely.įun fact: plants in the mint family have an interesting physical characteristic. Once this spread occurs, it’s very difficult to get rid of. Mint propagates quickly and successfully underground via sturdy rhizomes and can take over surprisingly large areas.Īnd because it’s a perennial herb, it doesn’t lose any ground, so to speak, when winter hits: It simply picks up right where it left off when the ground warms again in the spring. The most important thing to know about mint - so I’m mentioning it right off the bat here at the top of this article - is that mint is a wildly prolific spreader. In the U.S., most garden centers and home improvement stores carry a variety of easy-to-grow culinary mints, including lemon, chocolate, ginger, pineapple, orange, and more. Two of the most common mint species found in home gardens are peppermint ( Mentha × piperita) and spearmint ( Mentha spicata), but there are over 7,000 known varieties worldwide. Mint plants belong to the genus Mentha and are part of the Lamiaceae family. In this article, you’ll find pro tips and techniques for how to grow and care for mint. It’s no wonder that many gardening enthusiasts and home cooks grow this vibrant plant in their own backyard gardens. Mint is a beautiful and refreshing herb that can be used in countless dishes, beverages, and even home remedies.
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