Dividing Herbs – Mint

My mint has taken off in the last week or so, so today seemed like a good time to divide the plants before they become truly rampant in Spring.  Before division I gave the plant a good haircut and made my self a cup of mint tea.

I have harvested from the below plant a lot lately and while it could have kept going in this pot I think it will respond well to some TLC and new potting mix.

This is how I divide my plants: First remove it from its pot.  I’m a fairly messy gardener hence no drop sheet or anything to collect stray dirt.  Once the plant is out of the pot I usually just chop it in half with a spade ensuring the I am keeping about half the root system as well as half the leaves.  (Apologies for the over exposed pics.)

 

I then repot the half I am keeping and discard the rest (alternatively this could be repotted in another pot.)

The below photo shows the divided mint alongside another which I have simply repotted in a larger pot.  In this later instance I didn’t divide the plant.  It will be interesting to compare any differences in growth.  I use a lot of mint so hopefully both will be fabulously productive.

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4 Responses to Dividing Herbs – Mint

  1. Mark Willis says:

    That’s exactly what I do. Mint is irrepressible, so there is never any problem propagating it. What do you do with the “other half” that you don’t re-pot? If you put it in the compost heap it grows like crazy. Destroying Mint is not easy!

    • Liz says:

      Hi Mark, We have green waste collection so it goes in there – although I’m not sure if I am then creating a problem for someone else. As you say if you compost it you end up with mint every where so if I dont put it in the green bin then it goes into landfill (which does make me feel guilty but not sure what else to do with it really). Perhaps I should dry it out so completely it could never resprout and then compost it…..

  2. Squeaky says:

    Thank you, I am a new gardener growing some things on my balcony. It was really helpful to have the pictures to show what to actually do!

    I had my first mint raita last night from my mint. Mmm.

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