Gardening with Gary

Gardening Advice from an Expert

Mint

Member Caroline writes~
I have a Candy Apple mint plant. I would like to know how to take care of them and what I can use these in or for.

A. Let's start with a little history of mint! In the Middle Ages, you would find mint in most monastery gardens. It was used to cure mouth sores, whiten teeth, heal dog bites and wasp stings and used in preventing milk from curdling. It repels mice and rats, too.

The Romans believed that by eating mint, you have an increased intelligence level and have relief from headaches. They rubbed tabletops with mint for it symbolized hospitality.

The scent of mint was supposed to help relieve people from a bad temper. And in California, the University shows that it increases concentration! Some companies in Japan pipe mint oil through the a/c system to invigorate workers, increasing productivity!

The name for mint is "Mentha" All mints are perennials and most need a moist soil with sun to partly shade; however, they grow in most shade, too. Most mints produce seeds, but it may not be the same variety as you started with, so propagate by division, root cuttings or runners.

Growing mint has to be one of the easiest tasks of gardening. Plant it in shade or some sun, ignore it, but contain it, or the roots will spread wherever they like. They need water from time to time and hardly any food. Pests do not care for the tissue taste.

Most mints grow to be about 6-12" tall. Garden centers may carry a variety of about 12 different common mints. Some varieties are:

Spearmint (Mentha x spicata) associated with chewing gum. It has been used in healing kidney inflammations.

Curly Mint-a form of spearmint which has curly, bright green leaves which is used a lot in mint sauces.

Horsemint-Mentha alopecurioides-grows to be 6-7 feet tall and is the earliest known mint to be used for medicinal purposes. It was simmered in vinegar to cure dandruff in Medieval Times.

Watermint-Mentha aquatica-is a low growing mint found often in England. It needs semi-shade and was used in the Middle Ages as a strewing herb. It grows to be about 39" tall.

Pennyroyal-also known as creeping mint-Mentha saturelioides-is a Native Australian mint used in repelling fleas and flies, and bed bugs.

Forest Mint, Slender Mint and River Mint are also Native Australian Mints.

Other mints that are fairly common include: round leaf mint, red mint, lemon mint, ginger mint, Egyptian mint, Corsican mint, camphor mint, peppermint, bergamot, lavender mint, basil mint, Vietnamese mint, white peppermint, black peppermint, pineapple mint, apple mint, and variegated apple mint.

The only problem mint may have in growing is rust. This is a reddish orange patch on leaves. It is caused by temperature fluctuations. The plant will usually come out of it if it is only a small patch of it, but if a large patch appears, cut the plant back.

o control mint, move it once in a while to a new location. Or plant it in drain pipes buried in the ground or plant it every year in an above ground planter. Some people plant low growing mints as a ground cover or lawn.

When drying mint, you will notice some of the flavor is gone. Hang mint in bunches in a brown paper bag until leaves are dry enough to crumble. Fill an airtight jar and it will keep for 1 year. You can freeze mint by placing on a cookie sheet and freeze until solid-then place in a plastic bag and store in freezer for up to one year.

Try these recipes out:

MINT HONEY: Warm 8 oz. of honey and add 1 tablespoon mint leaves. Seal in a jar and place it where it is warm for three weeks. Heat the honey again to where it runs freely and strain out the mint leaves. This honey will last for years and if it should candy, just warm it up a bit again!

MINT FOOT POWDER: Combine 1 cup talcum powder, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1 tsp. peppermint oil, and 1 tsp. vinegar. Keep in sealed jar and use as a dusting powder for the foot!

MINT TEA FOR NAUSEA: 1 part each: chamomile, lemon balm, and fennel seed, 2 parts spearmint, and 12 parts peppermint. Let steep in hot water, and sip when needed. Not to be used by pregnant women.

Source: Kathie Schmitt, with a lot of my own reworking, http://www.muscanet.com/~kschmitt/mint.html

Q. Would Corsican mint be a great ground cover, along with the thyme, around a pond, where it needs to be pretty low, in between the brick pavers? Is it evergreen? Also, do you know of a mail order source?

A. I have never grown Corsican mint, only the spearmint and peppermint, and maybe a couple others whose names escape me now. So...

Mentha requienii
Corsican Mint
Family Name: Lamiaceae
Geographic Origin: France, Italy
Hardiness: USDA zones 6-9
Mature size: Height inch, Width indefinite
Flowering period: Summer
Tiny light purple flowers
Leaves: Small, round, inch wide, bright green leaves
Growth habit: Creeping perennial
Light: Sun or partial shade
Soil: Moist well-drained soil
Propagation Methods: Divide clump in spring or autumn.

In colder winters, it will die back and resprout in spring. In mild winters, it remains evergreen. It is a creeper but a 'polite' one. Looks great between pavers and stepping stones. One of my favorite plants to use for this area. Walking on it makes Corsican mint release its minty fragrance.

Written with assistance by Debra Teachout-Teashon

Two Rainy Side Gardeners
http://www.rainyside.com

Also check for seeds at:

http://www.herbherbert.com/Corsican_Mint.html
www.mitsuwanursery.com
www.petesherbs.com/Mint.html
http://scribers.midwest.net/indigo/index.htm
http://davesgarden.com/plants/go/298.html

Julles writes~ I've always heard mint needed a damp location in full sun. But the pots I bought at Tea's Nursery last week said on the label "part-shade". Which is right for Houston?

A. You need to grow in part shade in Houston. The full sun would be too hot and dry it out quickly. The shade would lead to straggly poor growth.

Mint: You can't live with it and you can't live without it!!!

Most of the time we are busy trying to just keep it tidy. The stolons of mint are some of the most aggressive in all the plant world. If you plant it in the ground, the first year you wonder what all the fuss is about. The second year you find a few stray sprouts and by the third year it is climbing in the bedroom window. Mint will grow 20 feet under weedblock and come out the other side and with no water in mid summer.

Mint spreads two ways, by runners and by seed. Those sprouts that shoot up from the broadcast seed will probably not be the same as the parent they came from. They will probably smell rank and taste worse.

Yet, still we grow mint and lots of it. There are green mints and red mints and gray mints. There are horsemints and mountain mints. There are Jamaican mint and Australian mint that aren't really even mint. We are so infatuated by the evocative scent of mint and its frivolous taste that we put it in everything from tea to toothpaste.

Mint contains Vitamin C and Vitamin A and a cup of fresh mint tea has been known as an herbal remedy to many cultures for many generations.

The spearmints or green mints are the ones most often used in cooking. They include Mint the Best, Kentucky Colonel Mint, Curly Mint, Lemon Bergamot Mint and Swiss Mint.

The peppermints or red mints are very strong flavored and should be dried before using or used sparingly if fresh. Peppermint contains menthol which spearmint does not. This makes the Peppermints the ones to use for soothing upset stomachs. They include Basil Mint, Moroccan Mint, Lime Mint, Orange Bergamot Mint, Chocolate Mint, and Lavender Mint and, of course, Peppermint.

The gray fuzzy mints are also excellent cooking mints. They include Egyptian, Apple and Pineapple Mint. While not scientific classifications, this method of referring to mints helps to understand them better and thus use them appropriately.

Plant your mint where you can control it. Don't think just because you put it in a pot that is sufficient. Keep your eye on the pots too: mint can crack clay pots and escape into the neighboring area. Unless you want mint everywhere, grub out all those pesky runners that find their way into the soil as soon as possible. Once those runner's roots really take hold and the other plants grow around them, that space will be mint for life.

Don't put more than one kind of mint in a pot. If you mix your different kinds of mints up in the same pot, either one mint will smother the rest or they will get so mixed up, it will be difficult to tell them apart.

Mint likes full sun and lots of water. If you put your mint in the shade, it will grow floppy and the flavor will not be as strong as when you grow it in the sun. Mint is hardy to zone 5 and likes almost any garden soil.

When you cut Mint, cut all the way back to the ground. If you want to enjoy the many different colors of flowers, cut them off before the seed is ripe. Remember that when an herb is flowering it is not making lots of nice leaves to cook with. Shear your mint to the ground in the fall and it will emerge shining and ready for gourmand use in the spring.

Mint grown in pots needs to be divided every year. It will fill its pot quickly and crowd itself out to the point of extinction.

http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/mintcareandtips.htm