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How to Grow Mint: Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Tips

Mint is an easy herb to grow in your garden and can add flavor to every meal.

Botanical Name
Mentha
Grown as
Perennial
USDA Zones
3a
3b
4a
4b
5a
5b
6a
6b
7a
7b
8a
8b
9a
9b
Toxicity
Toxic to Dogs and Cats
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Water Needs
Moderate
Height
1–3 feet
Spread
1–3 feet
Soil pH
Neutral
Bloom Time
Summer
Flower Color
Pink
Purple
White
Special Features
Container-Friendly
Disease-Resistant
Erosion Control
Fragrant
Long Blooming
Low Maintenance
Attracts Butterflies
Attracts Hummingbirds
Attracts Pollinators
Deer-resistant
Rabbit-resistant
Resilience
Clay Soil Tolerant
Cold Hardy
Heat-Tolerant
Salt Tolerant
Plant Type
Herbs
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Mint is like that friend who’s fun to have around… but totally takes over the party if you’re not careful! With its refreshing flavor, heavenly scent, and can’t-stop-won’t-stop attitude, mint is a breeze to grow; just give it boundaries. 

Whether you’re dreaming of mojitos, mint tea, or a garden that smells like candy, we’ll show you how to plant, tame, and enjoy this spirited little herb.

Mint is a perennial herb with very fragrant, toothed leaves and tiny purple, pink, or white flowers. There are many varieties of mint—all fragrant, whether shiny or fuzzy, smooth or crinkled, bright green or variegated. However, you can always tell a member of the mint family by its square stem. Rolling it between your fingers, you’ll notice an aromatic scent and think of candy, sweet teas, or even mint juleps.

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As well as kitchen companions, mints are used as garden accents, ground covers, air fresheners, and herbal medicines. They’re as beautiful as they are functional and foolproof to grow, thriving in sun and shade all over North America. Since mint can be a vigorous spreader, you must be careful where you plant it.

Planting

  • Mints are vigorous perennials that thrive in light soil with good drainage.
  • Ideally, they prefer a moist but well-drained site, something like their native habitat along stream banks.
  • Most will grow in sun or partial shade; the variegated types may require some protection from direct sun.
  • For outdoor growing, plant one or two purchased plants (or one or two cuttings from a friend) about two feet apart in moist soil. One or two plants will easily cover the ground. Mint should grow to be one or two feet tall.
  • Mint is a vigorous grower that needs to be contained, or it will send out its runners and spread all over your garden. The key is to contain the plant’s roots. Whether in the ground or above ground, plant mint in a pot. We suggest planting each mint in a 10-inch pot with drainage holes. You can then sink this pot into the ground or another larger container of soil.
  • If you are fine with mint becoming a ground cover and understand that it may become invasive, plant in its own raised bed or separate area.
  • In the garden, plant mint near cabbage and tomatoes—in pots, again, in order to prevent it from spreading and stealing nutrients from your crops!

Check out this video to learn more about how to grow mint. 

Growing

  • Minimal care is needed for mint. For outdoor plants, use a light mulch. This will help keep the soil moist and keep the leaves clean.
  • Indoor plants should be watered regularly to keep the soil evenly moist.
  • At first, mints develop into well-behaved-looking, bushy, upright clumps, but they soon set out to conquer new territory with horizontal runners and underground rhizomes. Unless you block the advance, a peppermint plant can become a sprawling 4-foot giant in just 1 year. It’s not the stuff of horror movies, however. Mints benefit from picking and pruning. They are shallow-rooted and easy to pull out, so there’s no reason to worry as long as you provide physical barriers such as walls, walkways, or containers.
a basket of freshly picked mint
Photo Credit: Juta/Shutterstock

Harvesting

  • Frequent harvesting is the key to keeping mint plants at their best. Young leaves have more flavor than old ones, and mint can be harvested as soon as it comes up in spring. Although fresh is best, and sprigs should be kept in water for a few days, mint leaves can be frozen or air-dried in bunches.
  • Right before flowering, cut the stems 1 inch from the ground. You can harvest one mint plant two or three times in one growing season.
  • You can also pick the leaves as you need them.
  • You can grow the plants indoors for fresh leaves throughout the winter. If you want to dry them, it’s best to cut the leaves right before flowering. Store the dried leaves in an airtight container.

Propagating Mint

The best way to propagate mints is by taking cuttings from those that you like best. It’s easy—take 6-inch cuttings of rooted stems and plant them horizontally in the soil. Mint stems will also root in a glass of water. Start with a small cutting from an established plant. Any gardening friend will give you a cutting of a favorite mint.

propogating mint cuttings
Photo Credit: Joannawnuk/Shutterstock


 

Pests and Problems

Spacing for Mint

Types

  • Apple/Pineapple Mint: Mentha suaveolens
  • Corsican Mint: Mentha requienii
  • Pennyroyal: Mentha pulegium
  • Peppermint: Mentha x piperita
  • Citrus Mint: Mentha x piperita var. citrata
  • Spearmint: Mentha spicata

Wit and Wisdom

“If any man can name … all the varieties of mint, he must know how many fish swim in the Indian Ocean.”  –Walafrid Strabo (c. 808–849)

Herbs

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 04/07/2020 - 16:29

Sow the seeds just 1/8 inch deep, barely covering with fine soil, and keep moist. Seeds will germinate in 10 to 20 days. Mints are slow to develop during the first year, but be ready to fight them back the second year. If you're worried about their growth, plant in their own bed!

 <span>Lena</span> Sat, 02/08/2020 - 10:30
Lovely article, thank you! I was wondering if there was any more information regarding companion planting? I see that you stated to plant mint next to tomatoes and cabbage, but will mint do well alongside other plants? Why only tomatoes and cabbage? Xx
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 02/10/2020 - 16:14

Mint's main feature is its potent smell, which is said to deter common pests such as cabbageworms and cabbage moths, ants, aphids, and flea beetles. Generally, mint can be planted in pots alongside any veggies that are affected by these pests, like peppers, broccoli and cauliflower, and other leafy greens.

For more about companion planting, see our articles on the topic:

 <span>Stephen</span> Thu, 12/05/2019 - 15:18
Hi. Thank you so much for these articles, very helpful. Over a year ago, myself an my wife planted a fruit tree and guild. The guild has many perennials from lavender to hibiscus, thyme, yarrow, sorrel and others, but also mint, spearmint, mountain mint. I can find plenty of information online about planting a guild with perennials but nothing about what to do when fall and winter arrive...how to care? Do I just leave the mint and others to die, fall and rot, or cut away the stalks for regrowth in Spring? I would love if you could help or even point me in the direction of something online or some books for caring for a fruit tree guild through winter. Thank you so much. Stephen.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Thu, 12/12/2019 - 13:37

Creating a fruit tree guild is a wonderful way to promote biodiversity in a small space and to work permaculture into your garden. Generally, it's recommended to allow nature to take its course and let the perennials die back themselves, as they will eventually break down and feed the surrounding soil. However, if the garden is planted very tightly together, you may want to cut and remove some of the larger perennials as they die back (like yarrow, for example) so that they do not end up suffocating out the others.

You should also keep an eye out for any signs of pests or disease—fungal or bacterial spots, mildew, pests, and so on—and remove infected material from the garden. This helps to prevent it from building up in one location and perpetuating the disease in the following growing season.

 <span>Joe</span> Fri, 09/27/2019 - 17:17
I recently brought a peppermint plant indoors to be grown under artificial light, since I had to bring my succulents in anyway, and noticed its leaves have started to change from its normal green to more red/purple, is this an indication of too much or too little light, or completely unrelated?
<span>Parker</span> Mon, 04/08/2019 - 11:46
you said stem anker. did you mean stem cancer?
<span>Parker</span> Mon, 04/08/2019 - 11:48
stem canker
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 04/08/2019 - 14:41

Stem cankers are patches of dead tissue that appear on a plant's stem. The canker may be caused by an infection of bacteria, viruses, or fungi, and they generally expand slowly over time. Depending on the plant and the cause, stem cankers may be lethal to the plant.

 <span>Parker</span> Tue, 04/09/2019 - 12:10
ok