How to grow mint

Mint is a perennial herb grown for aromatic leaves used fresh and dried in drinks, sauces, and desserts, with square stems and a scent that gives away the mint family at a touch. It grows fast and stays productive for years once established, tolerating a wide range of soil and light, and a single planting can supply fresh leaves from spring through frost. Gardeners often keep it near a kitchen door for cutting on demand, since stems regrow quickly after harvest. Its low, spreading habit also works as a groundcover in a damp corner where little else thrives.

The hardest part of growing mint well is keeping it where it was planted. North Carolina State University Extension notes its square stems can root wherever they touch the ground, and the plant also spreads by underground rhizomes, so soil barriers are needed to restrain a planting where spread is unwanted. A second-year gardener who tucks a single plant into an open corner, expecting it to behave like a compact herb such as thyme, finds runners pushing under neighboring rows within one season, with new shoots coming up feet away. Because any leftover root fragment can resprout, a planting that looked harmless in spring can take over a bed by the next year.