Does All Mint Spread
Welcome to this post about whether all mint will spread. It can be almost too easy sometimes to grow as it’s so quick but can also spread very easily. In this article we will cover whether some mint types will spread and what you can do to prevent them from taking over your entire garden at home. As you might know, mint is a very competitive herb that can once it’s established push out other plants growing nearby. It’s not a huge challenge for it to take both space and nutrients from the soil.
If you want to learn even more about growing mint then you can read one of our articles here that covers the specific on the speed that it grows. Find it here, How Long Does Mint Take To Grow.
Does All Mint Spread
We didn’t really give a clear answer whether all the mint could spread. So i’ll take the opportunity to say it now instead, yes all mint can spread. But they vary in the expense of how aggressive they can spread. For the most part mint seeds are easily transferred to other places where they can start growing.
If you have read up on mint before you would know that it is one of the easiest herbs to grow at home. But that’s a double edged sword. On one hand it’s really nice to have a herb that can show results really quickly. But on the other side it can be annoying having a herb that can quickly take over your entire garden if you leave it unhinged.
How Do You Grow Mint Without Spreading It?
But there are of course some precautions we can take to make sure this doesn’t happen. The first and easiest one is growing it in a pot. This is what we recommend you always do with mint. Like we said, it’s a competitive herb so moving it when it starts blooming and producing seeds is a good idea. Having it in a pot will make that task a lot easier. It limits the root system that it develops as well. Otherwise the roots can also be an annoying part for surrounding plants. Mint is very good at taking up nutrients and benefiting from it.
Have you seen some of your mint plants taking a long time to grow and you want to know what the supposed time is? In this article here we discuss just that. Find it here, How Fast Do Mint Plants Grow?
Another important step to take in keeping the mint contained is picking or cutting off the flowers once you see them. If you do this you will not only have more harvests throughout the year as the plant instead focuses on producing leaves rather than flowers. But you also hinder it from getting to the stage where it will produce seeds. These seeds are the real danger when you want to prevent mint spreading. They travel very easily and are hard to spot. You wont notice them until the next year when they have started germinating and small sprouts will begin to appear.
I want to reiterate again in the topic we are talking about, if all mint varieties will spread. Like we established, they probably will to varying degrees. The best way of preventing its rapid overtaking of your garden is to pick the flowers once you see them. Without them there will not be any mint seeds to start growing elsewhere.
Having it inside is also an option that reduces the risk. Lastly, growing it in a pot is something we highly recommend. It makes it very mobile and easy to take away once you fear it might start seeding.
Have your mint plants not sprouted yet and you feel enough time has passed for it? Here we talk about some of the reasons for this happening. Find it here, How Long Does Mint Take To Sprout?
