Gardening in Clay Soil by Sara Pitzer

Author:Sara Pitzer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Published: 1995-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

Mint

Plants with stoloniferous root systems extend horizontal branches, also called runners, from the base of the plant producing new plants from buds at the tips.

In our climate, marigolds start looking bad sometime in August, depending on the heat. The chrysanthemums started blooming about the time the marigolds quit. I didn’t try any pinching to control the mums, though I did sheer them back with pruners once about the end of June. For a while the chrysanthemums and marigolds bloomed together. As soon as the marigolds started looking bad, I pulled them out and let the chrysanthemums take over. After frost I pulled them up too, mulched the bed, and let it stand over winter. The following season I was able to plant some more finicky plants in the bed, although I discovered that in our area once you’ve planted chrysanthemums, they’re with you forever. I weeded out a good many in the spring, but left a few to continue working on the soil.

Mint is like chrysanthemums in that its growth tends to be rampant and invasive. Some gardeners avoid it for that reason, but I love the way the long, stoloniferous roots push through the clay as the plants spread. I have at least a dozen different varieties growing in with daylilies, in the vegetable garden, and even in the perennial borders, as well as in some places where I don’t think anything else could grow.

The mint foliage keeps the ground covered. In larger patches you can cut it with the lawnmower. When it grows where you don’t want it, mint is easily pulled up and the job is pleasant because of the wonderful aromas. Sometimes in the hottest part of the summer I have cut armfuls to spread as instant mulch around tomatoes and flowering shrubs.

Also, I am convinced that the mints and chrysanthemums, mixed among other plants, cut down tremendously on the number of insects that bother us. The dogs and cats have few fleas. The only insects that bother our cultivated plants are Japanese beetles. The Pitzer theory is that all the different aromas confuse insects so that they can’t figure out where they are. They just go someplace simpler. Whether my theory is true or not, chrysanthemums are the plant source of the insecticide pyrethrum, used in many pet care products.

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