Growing Mint

Reasons To Grow Mint

Mint plants are perhaps one of the most misunderstood herbs in the garden. When we talk about an herb garden or planting herbs, Mint does get a bad rap for being invasive, a plant that tends to take over a garden. And if you’re allergic to this plant, then you probably should stay away from it.

But for all its faults, it does have its merits. It has many uses in and around the house, not just the garden. This makes it a staple in many herb lovers’ garden beds.

If you haven’t thought of growing mint in your own garden or its own garden bed yet, then listen up because I have a bunch of reasons to grow mint that might turn you into a convert. Let’s get started!

Can Be Contained

Let’s get the first of the reasons to grow mint out of the way first. There are people who refuse to grow mint because they are aggressive and have the tendency to spread. That’s just how nature designed them. But the good news is they can be contained.

If you’re planting mint and you’re worried they might invade your garden beds, then it’s best to grow them in mint containers, which is just to say containers with mint in them. They will easily thrive there.

This way, you can contain them and not worry about any unwanted growth. For any small or large containers, you plant your mint species in, make sure to put drainage holes at the bottom of the containers so that you don’t end up with excess water drowning your new plants.

Grows From Cuttings

Mint is like a gift that keeps on giving. They can easily re-form roots from root cuttings, so it’s simple to re-grow them. Simply take a portion of mint you’ve cut from the main plant and put it in water until it grows roots. After this, you can transplant it.

Alternatively, you can just stick your cuttings into some garden soil, and it will re-root all by itself.

Partial Shade Or In Full Sun

When I say mint is easy to grow, I really mean mint is easy to grow in all growing conditions. It doesn’t matter if you plant mint in a sunny location or sunny part of your garden or if you keep small pots of them indoors on a kitchen counter where they get indirect light.

You can still grow healthy and beautiful mint as long as it is in a pot with great drainage. In fact, too much sunlight can scorch mint green leaves.

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No Fuss

More reasons to grow fresh green mint: it is an incredibly durable, hardy perennial plant. So much so that even if you are, or someone you know is a lazy gardener, it will still survive.

Being a naturally aggressive plant, it can take a lot. You can just leave it to do its thing, and it will still grow even without much input from you. You can forget to water it for a few months, and it will still live.

Mint is one of the easiest herbs to grow, making it an excellent plant to take care of for people who supposedly don’t have a green thumb and have killed even cacti.

It Attracts Beneficial Insects And Repels Bad Ones

A living, breathing garden requires the help of little critters from time to time. Fortunately, mint has the ability to attract insects and bugs that are beneficial for any garden. This includes bees, beneficial wasps, tachinid flies, and aphid eaters.

On the other hand, mint’s scent has the ability to repel nasty bugs like mosquitoes, ants, flies, fleas, moths, and more.

You Can Use It To Beautify Your Home

Another of the reasons to grow mint and why it will make a great addition is that it can also serve as an accent to any fresh flowers you use to decorate your home. Just take a bunch of the aromatic leaves and pair them with the bright blooms from your garden for a visually appealing flower arrangement with a fresh scent.

You Can Use It As Medicine

Mint is considered a healing perennial herb and a vigorous grower as it can soothe many ailments. It is rich in nutrients, including vitamin A, iron, manganese, and folate. You can use it to improve irritable bowel syndrome, relieve indigestion, improve brain function, decrease breastfeeding pain, improve cold symptoms, and mask bad breath,

You Can Cook With It

It goes without saying that this aromatic herb has a special place in the kitchen. You can easily use this culinary herb to make tasty cocktails like mojitos, or you can steep a bunch of fresh leaves to make herbal tea.

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If you bake, you can use your fresh mint plants to make your own mint extract. All you need is to place a bunch of clean mint leaves in a jar and fill it with 20 proof liquor. Leave it for a week or so, and you’ll have mint extract ready in no time.

Of course, you can also use mint in a wide variety of recipes. You can mix it in salads, in noodle dishes, mint spreads, in tabbouleh, in ice cream, mint julep, in cookies, and so much more!

Different Types Of Mint:

• Chocolate mint
• Spearmint also known as mentha spicata, and m. spicata
• Pineapple mint
• Orange mint
• Peppermint also known as mentha x piperita, and m. x piperita

This is a wonderfully versatile herb that deserves a spot in every garden. It’s tasty, it repels bugs, and best of all, you can grow It easily. If you have a love-hate relationship with this herb, I hope the reasons I’ve shared above will make you love this versatile plant more.

Do you have more reasons to grow mint that you can share with us? Or maybe some tips for growing or using it around the house? Let me know in the comments below!

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