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kimcoco

please help me get rid of mint !!!!

kimcoco
16 years ago

I don't know what kind of mint it is. Previous owners planted it. It's in an area where I have other perennials and also green emerald arborvitae trees. How do I get rid of the stuff without killing the rest of my plants?

I can't stand it anymore!!!!

Comments (11)

  • ksrogers
    16 years ago

    Weed killer. Get it soon, so it doesn't go to seed. 20% vinegar can burn it. Add a dash of soap and let it die.

  • Daisyduckworth
    16 years ago

    If there's a way to get rid of mint, there are plenty of people who would sell their souls to know it!

    I think you really just have to start digging. Start at the perimeters, and work your way inwards, missing no parts as you go. Make it a Mint Removal Street Party. Call in the local Boy Scouts. Dig deep.

    And good luck to you.

  • herbivore
    16 years ago

    Mojitos, my friend.

  • thyme_waits_for_me
    16 years ago

    Herbivore is right! There's an ancient Tex Mex proverb:

    "When life hands you mint...make mojitos!"

    (Sorry I can't be of any more help. I'm a 4th floor balcony gardener and don't know anything at all about such things as bugs and slugs and mint gone mad...but I sincerely wish you the best of luck.) :-)

  • daniellalell
    16 years ago

    The only way is to dig dig dig. Mine totally took over, but the thing that made me dig it all up was the fact that it attracted sooo many hornets. I learned my lesson about mint a few years ago, and after that I keep it in pots so it doesnt get unruly. Also, only having a few mints really cut back on the hornets. Good luck!

  • valentinetbear
    16 years ago

    I grew mine in pots. (Thank God! Purely because I can only grow in pots, not any common sense on my part. LOL) That being said, at the end of the season, I yanked and yanked and yanked and yanked those suckers out, threw the runners (picture of partial runner can be seen on the link below) in the bottom half of a five gallon container, and then tried smothering them with half a container of soil over them, hoping winter would freeze them to death, also. A few survived. Smothered them again, last spring in the bottom of yard wide and high container. Either that worked, or it's taking them all summer to finally crawl to the top to laugh at me. (I don't doubt their tenacity. LOL)

    A bugger yours are in among other "real" perennial plants AND not in containers. have you tried manmade mulch -- crushed rubber tires or thick plastic over them? It will need to be a thick layer, with areas for your real plants to grow through, but, worse comes to worse, the only way they show up then is in the same spots as your real plants!

    Last year I grew one mint in with one tomato plant. (I read rodents don't like the smell of mint, so won't bother the tomatoes. Squirrels won last year and got most of the tomatoes. I swear I saw some grab a little of this herb and that herb from the rest of my garden to make a delicous tomato salad with mint! LOL) I had to yank out the mint as completely as possible three times during the summer, and the final time after the season was over, literally, a very painful chore!. (I'm too disable to even pluck suckers off tomato plants, but I cannot let plants die from my stupidity! LOL)

    It was only four 5-gallon buckets, and had yanked out the third time just weeks before. Those runners run deep. That's why I ended up with 2.5 gallons of mint in that bucket last fall. just remember, all green plants need their leaves above ground to capture energy from the sunlight. No leaves, no mint -- eventually!

    Oh, and if you ever do find an easy method -- tell NO ONE, until you're patent is approved. You should make the same amount of money as Wite-Out has made Mike Nesmith! (Reference, if you are too young: Mike Nesmith, a member of the fake, TV rock group, The Monkees, is son of the woman who did invent Wite-Out to correct mistakes on type written pages, back in the olden days when folks had typewriters, not wordprocessors. ;) )

    Here is a link that might be useful: Mint's runner is on first column down the middle of the page.

  • lorjacks
    16 years ago

    "Mojitos, my friend." LOL!
    How about lighter fluid and set the Zippo up all the way. I saw my brother torch a black widow spider that way once. OK, don't do that. This may not help but, I use bottomless 3 gal. pots sometimes for a 2 level effect in the beds. Plant the mint in them. It looks kind of cool when they grow over the edges and seems to control them and keeps the beds neat too. You cut them back when they get too long over the edges, of course. I use so much mint in our ice tea, aka the house wine of the south. I love it. The more the merrier.

  • oldroser
    16 years ago

    It took me years of pulling it up but persistence did it. Mine was apple mint and it had invaded two perennial beds. I think what finally did it in was a lot of mulch and when those long roots took advantage of the mulch, it was much easier to pull. I sort of regret now that I didn't pot some up to keep - must get some next spring as I really miss it in lemonade, tea and tabouleh.

  • kimcoco
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks all for the feedback. My major problem is that some of it comes from my neighbors yard - and they aren't "friendly" neighbors. Thankfully, they've sold their house!!! Time to celebrate!!! (ok, that's another forum altogether).

    I have been throwing weed killer over the fence to try to stop it there, but no such luck. I just keep pulling it, and you are right, it's easier to pull out with the mulch that I've been adding back there.

  • mida68
    14 years ago

    We planted mint in our small veggie garden - BIG mistake. So after pulling it up and watching it all come back, I cut off the drip irrigation (we live in a HOT and dry climate) it's dying except a few shoots which are very much slowed down. Now, I'm going to dig out all the dirt and get rid of it! When I'm done, what should I line it with?

  • grower_grower
    14 years ago

    I would love to have some of your mint. Please let me know and I would be more thankful for a few plants.