Planting Mint Herbs

Mint herbs is a large family of herbs that are survivors. No matter how much you love the smell and intoxication of a mint plant, unless you plant the mints in a contained area, you'll find it pushing out many of the other plants.

Even corralling the mints doesn't help if you have lemon balm, one of its members, since the plant prolifically spreads its seed beyond the container.

There are various types of mint herbs plants, but they all have a fragrance that emanates with the oils in the plant. Most everyone is familiar with the scent of the peppermint or spearmint. You simply bruise the leaves to release the intoxicating fragrance. However, many people don't know other mints. The bergamot or lemon mint plant, catnip or catmint, lemon balm, pennyroyal and various newer types ranging from apple mint to chocolate mint.

When you grow mints, you need to keep the plants separated, particularly if you're growing varieties for their different scents and flavors.

Most mints grow easily regardless of the type of soil you use. However, if you select a moist open site with partial shade that has slightly acidic soil, which is somewhat rich in nature, you'll find your mint plants are happy campers.

They will grow in many conditions, however, from full shade to full sun, but the plants grown in full shade will be leggy.

When growing mint, it's easier if you have a starter plant, since most mint travels by root. Lemon balm is one of the exceptions. Since mint loves to spread, most mint plants are excellent as ground covers.

Set the plants 12 to 18 inches apart when you plant. Some people want to contain the mint but still have them in the garden. If you're one of them, plant them in the soil in containers. Some find that clay drainage tiles work well.

You need to baby the mint herbs plants slightly until they become established. Keep the soil moist until the plants establish themselves. Once they begin to grow, you can make the plant area more attractive by pinching off the ends of the stem. This makes them produce bushy plants.

If you don't, you'll have leggy plants that vine every which way and it makes harvesting the leaves slightly more difficult.

When the season ends, cut the plants down to ground level and top dress the area with compost. This keeps your plants thick and luxurious the following year.

If you're planting bergamot, known as bee balm, lemon mint herbs, the Indian healing plant or lemon balm, you use seeds or plants. You might want to plant the bergamot in an area to show off their flowers, but make sure you harvest the leaves before the flowers come onto the plant.

Like most herbs, the leaves lose the flavor once the flowers appear. These plants are easy to grow in zones 5 through 10 and love full sun to partial shade. Once you establish the plants, they return each year.

When starting the bergamot seeds or lemon balm seeds, plant indoors and set atop a refrigerator for bottom heat until they peek through the soil.

Lemon balm is hardier than bergamot and you can sow the seeds directly into the soil. Once they're large enough, harden off the plant and transplant outdoors after the danger of frost.

Plant them 18 inches apart and expect plants to be as tall as 24 inches. The bees will love you for this selection and the plants can encourage friendly insects into your garden but have no predators that bother them.

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