Peppermint vs Spearmint

Its spread is the main problem: the runners creep in among neighbouring plants and into the lawn, and it resprouts from any piece left in the ground when you dig it out. Mint rust is a common disease: shoots become distorted, orange and later brown spore pustules appear under the leaves and the foliage drops; cut affected plants to the ground, keep the debris off the compost heap and in bad cases start again with a healthy plant in a new spot. In the hot, dry summers of Central Europe it scorches and goes bare without watering, and powdery mildew, aphids and mint beetle also occur. In a pot, divide it and replant into fresh compost every two or three years because it exhausts the soil.

It spreads aggressively by rhizomes and by stems that root where they touch the soil, and can swamp its neighbours within a few years: grow it in a pot, a sunken container or behind a root barrier. Mint rust is common: shoots come up distorted in spring, dusty orange pustules appear on stems and leaves and the foliage drops. Remove infected plants together with their rhizomes and start a new patch elsewhere from healthy shoots. Leaf spot also occurs.