Mint is a vigorous grower so it needs plenty of space – and don’t worry if you kill it, all good gardeners have at some point
“I have even killed mint!” is a line I see at least once a week from gardening newbies. It’s a feat that is often thought of as the hallmark of a truly terrible horticulturist. Yet, as someone who has been obsessively gardening all my life, I don’t understand where this idea comes from. Far from being invincible in the hands of anyone but the most awful gardeners, mint is something I have killed over and over again, in a variety of different ways. Just enough times, in fact, to finally learn how to grow it well. Here is my advice, not only on how to successfully grow mint but, more importantly, how to give yourself a break.
Mint probably gets its reputation for being hard to kill because it has a high metabolism, which means it is a very vigorous grower. Quickly spreading to colonise large areas of ground through its subterranean runners, it will often swamp neighbouring plants as it expands outward. However, like many superhero powers, this lightning-fast metabolism is as much a curse as it is a gift. If confined to a pot, as is often the case when in the hands of first-timers starting out with gardening, mint will soon exhaust the space, filling the pot with trapped runners that spiral round the container, strangling its own growth and depleting the available nutrients. This is particularly the case in containers made of porous materials, such as terracotta, which can contribute to severe drought stress. Mint is particularly susceptible to this. Without new territory to conquer, plants quickly run out of steam. This makes them susceptible to rust, a common and untreatable fungal disease that can decimate this genus.
Continue reading...from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3fWp0V1
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment