Mint plants can be beneficial in some ways, but they’re actually invasive plants that can be a bother. While many people do like to grow them in their gardens, it’s not always easy to keep them under control.
Wild mint plants become an issue for some gardeners in certain areas, too. If you have it growing somewhere in your yard, you might have already noticed how fast it can spread.
It can wind up causing issues for other plants because it quickly takes over areas. How can you get rid of mint so that you can protect your other plants?
Read on to learn about your best options, so you don’t have to worry about this invasive plant.
1 – Dig the Mint Plants up
Digging the mint plants up is an option that you could try out. It’s not necessarily going to be easy, though.
The actual act of digging them out of the ground won’t be difficult at all. However, it’s kind of tough to keep them from coming back.
This is because all it takes is one piece of the plant remaining in the ground for the mint plant to grow back. Essentially, you’re going to have to be very thorough and careful when digging these plants up.
To get the best results, it’s best to check the soil twice to see if you left any pieces of the mint plants behind. Do your best to discard the plants safely so that you won’t cause more of them to take root elsewhere.
2 – Kill Mint Plants Using Boiling Water
Perhaps you’d like to try to kill the mint plants to get rid of them once and for all. You might have an easier time with this than you would when trying to dig them up.
Many have said that using boiling water is a great option. The basic idea is to boil a pot of water and then safely pour it on the plants and around the soil.
To keep things as safe as possible, it’ll be wise to use oven mitts to carry the pot. You could also try to use a large tea kettle if you think that it would be easier to carry.
Stand back a bit to avoid having the boiling water splash on you. It might be a good idea to wear long pants instead of shorts just to be extra careful.
The boiling water should be able to kill the mint plants. Note that this isn’t going to work right away.
It’ll be necessary to come back several times and pour boiling water on the plants. Eventually, this should kill them off.
If this doesn’t completely work, you might need to try another method. You could also try being patient to see if continuing to use the boiling water method will take care of things.
3 – Try White Vinegar
White vinegar might work to kill mint plants, too. You can try mixing white vinegar with salt and dish soap to see if it’ll do the trick.
Mix one gallon of white vinegar, two cups of salt, and one teaspoon of dish soap together. You can put this mixture in some type of container that makes it convenient to pour it out on the plants.
Some might find it easier to use a spray bottle, but it’s up to you which route you’d like to take. Once everything is ready, you’re going to need to apply it to the plants.
As with the boiling water method, this isn’t going to instantly kill the mint plants. Instead, you’ll need to come back several times and keep applying this mixture.
Eventually, it should kill the plants and you won’t need to worry any longer. It can be a bit of a process, but using this white vinegar mixture should get you good results.
It should be noted that using this idea and the boiling water idea will have ramifications for other plants in the area. If you’re using these methods in your garden, other plants that are near the mint plants will also die.
This might limit the practicality of using these two ideas for some. Regardless, you now have some options that can be used to get rid of invasive plants.
4 – Smother the Mint
Smothering the mint is something that could work to kill it off. Mint plants can be a bit stubborn, but people have killed them using this idea.
Cover the mint plants with newspapers and ensure that you’re making the layers as thick as you can. Next, cover the newspapers with some type of mulch.
If any of the mint plants manage to poke their way through the mulch, it should be simple enough to pull them up. This is a good idea that won’t be hard to implement.
5 – Use Herbicide
Using herbicide is often the last resort. It’s something that will certainly be able to kill mint plants, though.
You can buy herbicides that can kill these plants from many different department stores and gardening centers. It’s also possible to order what you need online if that would be more convenient.
Be careful when applying herbicide so that you don’t kill things other than the mint plants. This can be tough to do, and it might not always be possible to avoid harming other plants if the mint plants are too close to them.
If the other methods haven’t worked to kill these plants off, using herbicide might be the only logical step to take. Thankfully, this should end things once and for all.
Final Thoughts
You’ll need to be careful when trying to get rid of mint plants in your garden. The safest way to do it without harming other plants involves digging the mint plants up.
This isn’t necessarily easy to do because it can be tough to get every single bit of the plant sometimes. If you don’t want to do that, it might be wise to try killing the plants using boiling water or white vinegar.
Smothering the mint plants could also kill them. When all else fails, it might be time to buy herbicide that will kill them for good.
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
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