Growing Mint In The Shade

[GB]

Can mint be grown in the shade? I have a huge tree in my yard and I really want to put a half whiskey barrel under it. I thought the barrel would be the perfect place to grow my mint. It would not get any direct sunlight though. Would mint grow in these conditions or would I need to put the barrel in the sun for the mint to grow?

 

[Constance]

I have grown mint in the shade, GB. Depending on the variety, it's pretty much a weed, and will grow just about anywhere.

 

[GB]

Thaks Constance. That is what I was guessing, but my mom was telling me otherwise. I guess I will just have to prove her wrong

 

[Alix]

That sounds like a perfect idea for mint. It really can take over so containing it in a barrel is a wonderful idea.

 

[GB]

I love mind, but no way I am putting it in the real garden!

My grandparents had mint growing up through concrete steps at their last house. Crazy stuff!!!

 

[Alix]

Yep. We have a small herb bed dedicated to just chives and mint. The chives are nearly as bad (they poke up in the driveway cracks!!) Ken has found a way to stunt mint growth though. He piles all the snow on that herb bed when he shovels the driveway. Methinks the earth is getting a wee bit packed and there may be some crud in there. I'm afraid to fertilize it though...

 

[GB]

Hmm will chives take over too? I know they are hardy and come back year after year, but do I need to be careful about planting them in the garden with everything else? I just planted some yesterday.

 

[Alix]

They spread nearly as badly as mint does.

 

[GB]

Oh boy thanks for the heads up. I am going to go dig them up tonight!

 

[Andy M.]

When I bought my first home, I userd to get the pleasant aroma of chopped chives every time I mowed my front lawn. A previous owner had grown chives in a garden and they had spread to the front yard!

It's not really a problem unless you don't like the smell.

 

[GB]

I love the smell. I have some patches in the yard where I killed the grass last year. Maybe I should fill them with chives

 

[marmalady]

GB, your mint may get a bit 'leggy' in the shade; just pinch/cut it back, and it will get bushier.

Chives usually propagate by seeding after they make those pretty little flowers, so wherever you have them planted they're going to sprout up!

 

[GB]

Thanks Marm

 

[BreezyCooking]

Your mint should do well in the shade, although it won't grow as densely as it would with partial sun. You should also stick to basic varieties like spearmint & peppermint rather than the various specialty cultivars. Those seem to really prefer more sun.

As far as chives go - no, they're not even one iota as bad as mint so long as you keep up with weeding your herb garden. They don't spread by underground runners, but rather by prodigious self-seeding. If you diligently keep the seed heads clipped before they mature, you shouldn't have any problems whatsoever apart from dividing the clumps every few years. However, if you let them go to seed, then you will have many seedlings coming up.

This situation is true for many, many varieties of herbs - not just chives. Herbs do require a certain amount of attention if you don't want them overrunning their spaces.

 

[licia]

I grow mint in the shade, but our summers get so hot and humid that lots of things just parch in the sun. My mil used to grow mint in her backyard at the faucet so when she finished her gardening she would take off her garden shoes and splash her feet in the water and mint. It was very refreshing. She had boocoos of it, though.

 

[GB]

My mil used to grow mint in her backyard at the faucet so when she finished her gardening she would take off her garden shoes and splash her feet in the water and mint. It was very refreshing.

What a great idea!!!

 

[Michael in FtW]

If you have a copy of the old Joy of Cooking (the old one before the New Joy came out) I know there is a very good section in there about herb gardens, which ones need to be contained, and growing conditions - soil type, amount of sunlight, water, etc.

 

[auntdot]

When I was a child in NYC my aunt had a mint patch in a narrow driveway between two houses. The stuff got very little sun, but thrived.

Have had a patch in the hottest of Florida suns, it did fine. Used to make mint juleps with it on Kentucky Derby day.

When we moved here, VA, half our limited garden space was taken over by the stuff.

We now have a small patch, and that is going to be removed.

The stuff is a weed as far as we can tell, and seems to grow in almost any climate.

Will it grow in the shade? Yep, and almost anywhere else.

Breezy is right, as usual. Mint sends out runners, like, oh raspberries, and they will pop up anywhere.

Chives, and many other herbs, will just seed themselves.

And so they are not perennials, but act that way.

 

[QSis]

Okay, so how do you folks use fresh spearmint?

I have a hardy container of spearmint, which I use for mint sauce for lamb, and for mint juleps, and for a few other things.

I would like some new recipes for this.

I do have an easy one that I've filed, but haven't tried yet. Have any of you?

Lee

Chocolate Covered Mint Leaves ​

This is a nice little trick for an after dinner treat or to decorate a cake. You will need 6 oz of semi-sweet chocolate morsels and freshly picked mint leaves which have been washed and patted dry. Melt the chocolate bits in the top of a double boiler. Dip each leaf in the chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden. Hardening occurs best by placing in the refrigerator.

 

[momerlyn]

Hey, GB, did you copy that from me? I have my whiskey barrel (by the pool) filled with mint this year, which I planted last year. It is morning sun only. It grows like mad (as it did at Grandma's house) but I keep it confined to the barrel. As soon as I seen any in the ground I get it out FAST! I also trim it or pinch it as marmalady said.

Your mom taught me the chocolate leaf trick that Lee mentioned! It is wonderful. We did it a little differently tho; melted the chocolate in the micro, and painted it on the leaves, then placed in the freezer. If they weren't mint leaves (the first time, we used a lemon-something bush), we peeled the leaf off before using the chocolate to decorate a fruit platter.

I have spearmint, peppermint, orange mint and... um, one other I think, in my barrel. You are welcome to as much as you want this weekend!