How to make mint bugger off

[TheLemon]

I planted, foolishly, a mint plant from the supermarket herbs section about 5 years ago and now it's dominated the entire flowerbed.

I dug it all up, spending hours on its horrid roots about 3 years ago and I swear it's come back stronger.

What can I do? Weed killer? Flame thrower? Move house?

I've noticed that growing sunflowers kills plants nearby, so maybe that's worth trying. It's a bit late to plant them for this year though.

Mint only does well in a household where the women is in charge - An old saying according to my somewhat misogynist Dad !

Nothing grows under rhododendrons, you could fill the garden with those.

No, that’s parsley.

parsley grows the quickest
where the master is the mistress.

mint wouldn’t scan

Sorry OP you will have to move. However, I’m sure if you did it would find a way of following you.

Guys, the rhymes and misogynistic sayings are great and all that, but short of buying a goat, Guinea pigs, rhododendrons and marjoram, weeding every Sunday, letting my husband boss me around, moving house and potentially ending up swallowing a horse, are we out of options?

Do I have to declare the mint infestation when inevitably moving house?

It is very pretty. blue flowers. Rejoice in the beauty.

Pimms?

well if it were Japanese Knotweed, I'd be saying put Glyphosate weedkiller on it. and i guess that would work on mint too if you are really desperate.

otherwise, the only option is dig it out and KEEP DIGGING.

I was going to offer help too. I can grow almost anything but I kill mint as soon as look at it.

My Dad is wrong?!

so seriously….

Pull it all up again and replant some in a big pot that is at least 20” tall. Then you can half sink the pot in the ground. Mint roots dont go particularly deep so its unlikely to escape under ground, but it will throw itself over the rim of the pot if you dont give it enough of a hurdle.

Then anytime you see some sprouting up in the garden bed bit (because you will miss some roots) spray it with concentrated vinegar. And be really careful that the vinegar doesnt overshoot or drift in the breeze as it will kill anything it touches.

If you make up a spray bottle of vinegar for this purpose, label it REALLY clearly so you dont accidentally mix it up with the aphid soap spray bottle and nuke all your tomato plants

Spray shoots with glyphosate (Roundup) - this gets drawn into the roots and kills the plant. Just keep at it, and the mint will eventually stop coming.

Then you need to take some time to reflect on your poor gardening decisions. 😉

Give some to me I've spent money on mint plants they died a lot I have some pineapple mint that is one sad leaf attached to a stick in a huge pot

I have wet heavy soil though perhaps that's an issue for mint? Maybe you could water it to death

You could have all mine @Theunamedcat but it's not even mint!

Ours was here when we moved in over 30 years ago. It likes spreading across the grass which I don't actually mind. It smells lovely when we mow the lawn, and there's always a patch of fresh mint somewhere or other when I want some for cooking.

I root mint cuttings in water, so I don't think waterlogging would be a problem for it.