Companion Planting Mint

No garden is complete without a patch of mint, the colour, the smell, the taste. These are all very attractive reasons for growing mint. Another reason is discovered by companion planting mint.

Companion Planting Mint

Mint is a perennial plant that has many varieties and varied culinary uses and is commonly used to flavour drinks, food etc… Mint is also an excellent companion plant known to deter:-

• Ants
• Fleas
• Flea Beetles
• Cabbage White Butterflies
• Aphids
• Rodents
• Earwigs
• Mealy bugs
• Spider mites

Grow mint close to Cabbages and Tomatoes to improve both health and flavour.

As mint deters Cabbage White Butterflies by placing mint around cabbages even as a mulch will greatly improve your cabbage crop. Likewise mint repels aphids and spider mites this will be of great benefit to tomatoes.

Companion Planting Mint With Flowers

Any plant that is affected by aphids will improve with mint growing in close proximity. Not just vegetables and fruits but also flowers like Roses, chrysanthemums,  Dahlias, and  hydrangeas to name but a few.

Deter Mice From Your Garden With Mint

Mice particularly don’t like the smell of mint so this can be used to your advantage. Plant mint around peas to protect the peas from mice. By this reasoning grow mint near sweetcorn and any other crop prone to being nibbled by mice. You can also spread some stalks of mint on areas where mice are known to go.

Mint is also known to repel mosquitoes.

Beneficial Insects Attracted To Mint

Insects that are attracted to mint include Hoverflies, predatory Wasps, Ladybirds, and even Earth Worms.

What To Keep Mint Away From

Because of its invasive nature (more below) mint shouldn’t be grown too close to anything. It will take over if the conditions are right.

Growing Mint

It is not worth growing mint from seed as it is often of inferior quality, so it is much better to buy a plant after smelling the leaves making sure it has a strong aroma.

Mint is easily grown from cuttings, just place the cutting in a jar of water and watch the roots form. Once established mint can be propagated by root division, simply dig up the plant and divide.

The soil is important to get right for mint, it prefers free draining, moist soil and if conditions are not to its liking it will move itself to better conditions.

Partial shade is another requirement for successful mint growth and unless you want it to completely take over your patch it needs careful attention.

How To Stop Mint Spreading Throughout Your Garden

Unless you want to be constantly digging up random mint plants, you need to take precautions BEFORE you plant it out. Grow mint either in a bucket or container or bury a bottomless bucket in the soil. This will stop the mint from spreading to areas where it is not wanted.

If you would like a variety of mint that doesn’t spread all over your garden you should grow Corsican mint as it doesn’t set root runners.

The Best Way To Grow Mint For Companion Planting

To my mind mint is an absolute necessity in the companion planting garden. Its benefits are very useful to the organic grower and you get a wonderful tasting herb for your plate. So unless you have acres of space the best way to grow mint is in containers.

Growing Mint In Containers

Not only does this prevent the mint from getting out of control and literally over whelming other plants, but it gives you easily transportable mint wherever you need it. As it is so easy to grow from cuttings, and also because of its prolific nature which allows you to split the roots and make new pots up each season. You can have as large a quantity of pots of mint around your garden as you need.

Place a few pots of mint amongst the cabbages, and a few around the tomatoes and so on. Use as a mulch around crops as well to deter insect pests and also to improve the soil as the mulch breaks down.

To grow mint in containers use a soil (loam) based compost, ensure the container is large enough and never let the soil dry out but don’t over water either.

Try growing some mint in a container in a greenhouse late in the season for some lovely, fresh mint sauce at Christmas time.

Harvesting Mint

To harvest mint just pick a few leaves as and when you need them throughout the growing season.

If you wish to harvest mint for drying or freezing, this is best done on a dry day before the flowers bloom. Best done in the morning before the temperature gets too high and never harvest mint when it is wet. Mint harvested in wet conditions has the tendency to dry with black leaves.

Caring For Mint

Mint is a hardy perennial and as such will grow year after year if conditions are right for it. That said all plants do better with a little care and attention and mint is no different. During the growing season, regularly trim your mint to produce fresh, young growth and cut out any unwanted new spreading roots.

Diseases That Affect Mint

Being quite a robust plant, mint is not bothered by too many problems. The main problem is rust, which will show itself as small orangy, brown spots on the leaves. These leaves need to be removed at once and burnt.

By removing the infected leaves immediately and burning you will prevent the spores from getting into the soil and infecting other plants.

Medicinal Uses For Mint

Peppermint in particular is used as an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, anti-parasitic, anti-bacterial and also as a stimulant. It is used to help with stomach complaints and as an aid to concentration. Peppermint is also used to ease headaches and the oil can be used as a massage to ease stiff muscles.