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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Original poster

I have done a terrible thing

36 replies

CruCru · 25/04/2015 18:35

I have planted mint (black peppermint) at the top of a stepped part of the garden. I haven't told DH - whenever I mention mint, he rants about how it gets everywhere and can never be got rid of. Seriously, you'd think it was Japanese knotweed.

I'd quite like it to spread, we have a horrible weed that is halfway between bindweed and giant Lily pads. I'm hoping the mint will fight with this horrible thing or am I deluded?

I have done a terrible thing
I have done a terrible thing
I have done a terrible thing
OP posts:
AlternativeTentacles · 25/04/2015 18:38

It will just grow in amongst all that. Sorry.

Original poster
CruCru · 25/04/2015 18:39

Ugh.

OP posts:
Greaterthanthesumoftheparts · 25/04/2015 18:57

Oh dear, I planted some in a pot last year with some other herbs and I am really regretting that now!

StaceyAndTracey · 26/04/2015 00:16

I've never said this on Mumsnet before but < whispers >

I agree with your husband

CointreauVersial · 26/04/2015 00:22

I managed to kill my mint.

There's no hope for me as a gardener, is there?

StaceyAndTracey · 26/04/2015 00:23
Shock
shovetheholly · 27/04/2015 16:13

Cointreau - mint doesn't like hot, dry conditions and you can kill it easily if it doesn't get any water!

OP, I'm sorry - I agree with your husband too!! It's really, really invasive. I am still pulling out pieces of mint from a bed I have cleared multiple times to get rid of it. It's a lovely plant to have.... in a pot!

Does your weed have yellow flowers about now?

HagOtheNorth · 27/04/2015 16:16

I planted mint in a bald patch in the middle of the lawn. It's lovely.
My mother kills mint, I've been offering her sacrificial victims for years and every time, every species or variety....dead as a doornail in 12 months.

VivaLeBeaver · 27/04/2015 16:17

I planted mint once. I had a mint lawn for years. It spread from the herb bed and was coming up in the lawn. Dh was not impressed. Id pull it out quick.

HagOtheNorth · 27/04/2015 16:22

Mine's been there a decade or so, I weed it every now and then. OH hasn't noticed, gardens aren't his thing.

drspouse · 27/04/2015 16:38

I managed to kill my mint.

Me too, and our garden is damp and shady. Every two or three years I start again.

wonkylegs · 27/04/2015 16:53

Mint doesn't like our garden, doesn't grow at all, I have a pot on the windowsill that sorts out my mojito cravings.
Lemon balm however is the bane of my garden, previous owners planted it and I've been trying to get rid of it for 2 years, I rip it out, turn round and it's back again

GerbilsAteMyCat · 27/04/2015 16:58

That weed is wierd. What is it? Some kind of ground bases bindweed?

pengymum · 27/04/2015 17:34

www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=187
That plant looks like Celandine.
Can't do proper link - on phone. Sorry!

pengymum · 27/04/2015 17:37

Ooh! It worked! Grin
Re the mint, best take it out & put it in a large pot or tub so you have enough to use but it won't take over your garden. The celandine needs to be dug out - regrows if you leave any roots. Or glyphosate weedkiller.

Original poster
CruCru · 27/04/2015 17:55

The weed had purple flowers months ago but is now just plain evil and taking over the entire island.

OP posts:
HagOtheNorth · 27/04/2015 18:28

Purple flowers and leaves that shape?
Are they violets? I have them running wild everywhere in spring.

Callmegeoff · 27/04/2015 19:22

I have the same weed must be an Island thing. It's winter flowering heliotrope. I keep digging up the rhizomes and pulling off the leaves. I can't quite bring myself to use glyphosate but that is what's needed apparently. I have got rid of 90% of it.

My mints in a pot. :)

Original poster
CruCru · 27/04/2015 22:01

Are you on the IoW as well Callme? Well done for getting rid of so much of it, it's horrible stuff.

OP posts:
oldbrownboot · 27/04/2015 22:25

my mint is in a pot but unfortunately not placed somewhere sensible like the patio; it's in the herb bed. The roots 'escaped' through the holes at the bottom of the pot so now its growing outside the pot too. grrr.

BuildYourOwnSnowman · 27/04/2015 22:30

how does a mint lawn work?

Callmegeoff · 27/04/2015 23:51

Yes I'm in Ryde,

GerbilsAteMyCat · 28/04/2015 07:36

I totally get where you are coming from. I planted mint as ground cover a couple of years ago to stem the tide of ground elder when my sons were small. It did work but now I'm yanking it all out. The ivy in your pictures would be my worry. Personally I would fork the whole area to get rid of the ivy and freaky weed, then plant nice groundcover plants like perennial geraniums or if it's sunny alpine strawberries.

redshoeblueshoe · 28/04/2015 07:56

Wonky -on another thread someone said how bad lemon balm is - so I googled it - apparently it is a mint bastard hiding behind a false nameI've just dug mine up and put it in a pot. I've got some of the purple stuff - hoeing seems to be the way to get rid of it

Original poster
CruCru · 28/04/2015 15:59

Ah, that photo is actually of a chine (valley in a cliff) near us. I was shocked how prolific the weed was. Now I know what it is, I've been googling and we need a really long hard winter to kill it. Which we almost never get in the Isle of Wight.

OP posts: