Bush Mint

How to grow Bush Mint

Written by the GardenDecoded editorial team · Last reviewed 21 July 2026 · Written for UK gardens · How we research our guidance

Planting

Plant in spring or autumn. In open ground mint runs hard through the surface soil, so most gardeners sink a bottomless pot or a bucket with drainage holes, leaving the rim a couple of centimetres proud of the soil. A pot on its own is fine and easier to manage.

Pruning

Cut the whole plant back to near ground level once or twice through summer to force fresh soft growth; the old stems get coarse and the flavour drops off once flowering starts. Tidy dead top growth in late autumn or leave it until spring.

Propagation

Easiest by division in autumn or early spring, or by lifting a length of runner with roots attached and potting it up. Stem cuttings root readily in water. Named mints do not come true from seed.

Pests and diseases

Mint rust is the main problem: orange pustules on stems and leaf undersides. There is no useful treatment for a garden plant, so lift and destroy affected clumps rather than composting them, and start again with clean stock. Red spider mite can be a nuisance under glass.

Value to wildlife

The flowers are worked heavily by bees and hoverflies if you let some stems bloom rather than cutting everything back for leaf.

Notes

Divide and replant into fresh compost every two or three years — old clumps get woody at the centre and crop poorly. Container plants are hungry and need a liquid feed through the growing season.

This guidance was researched and written by GardenDecoded — see our editorial policy for how guides are checked and reviewed.

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