Did you ever do something that you knew you really shouldn’t do, but did it anyway? Then, the whole reason you shouldn’t have done it comes to pass….like a kidney stone. The nightmare then results in you kicking yourself for being so…take your pick – stupid, ignorant, arrogant, crazy… And finally, try as you might this bad decision becomes your nemesis, your albatross, your invader of all things life-fulfilling. That, my friends, is my story of putting luscious smelling lemon mint into the ground.
Over the last several years, I’ve been working on one of my garden beds with the goal of it becoming a mini-Monet’s garden. Each year, I pick out a small handful of beautifully blooming perennials – tall and short, creepers and compacts, and every pastel color in the rainbow. My goal is an explosion of color, texture, and scents that will attract butterflies, hummingbirds and other garden beauties.
A Must Visit in Wisconsin
Let me pause this gruesome story for just a minute. If you’re within hours (yes, hours) Madison, WI area, you MUST take a trip to The Flower Factory in Stoughton, WI. They have the most amazing selection of the hardiest perennials I have ever found….thousands of them, in fact. My local garden centers tend to have the same old, same old when it comes to perennials. They’re great for annuals, but have limited perennial variety. In late-January, I watch the mailbox like a hawk for the Factory’s new catalog, just like I did as a kid waiting for the Sears toy catalog at Christmas. The pages have plants beautifully categorized, cross-matched, sized, and color coded. I get busy with my highlighter the minute it arrives. If you go, fair warning….it’ll be a little like going to Target – go for one thing and come out with a carload!!
The Nightmare Begins
Now, back to my nightmare. In my desire to not only have a beautiful leaf shape and color (above), but have a mosquito (Wisconsin’s state bird) repellent I, in my infinite garden wisdom, decided to plant lemon mint or lemon balm, right into the ground. Despite everything I read about keeping it in pots, or digging a barrier into the ground to prevent the roots from traveling, I just jammed that sucker in and let her go. And….go she did….all over the place, including the lawn! It’s now choking out some of my other beautiful plants.
So, for two seasons now (coming up on three) I’ve been pulling lemon mint – plants, root trails, leaves – two seasons! I’m not talking pull it once a season, I’m talking pulling whatever I find almost DAILY to try to get rid of it. Sure, I could nail it with a vegetation killer but I don’t want my other plants affected and I really don’t want to incorporate chemicals into the beautiful black soil I’ve worked so hard to amend. I’ve recently read to pour white vinegar on the area and that will kill it, so that’s on docket for the 2019 Killfest. On a positive note, when the lawn is mowed it smells of lovely lemon balm and we’ve not battled mosquitoes even during the horrible Mosquito Plague of 2018! And…it makes an awesome mojito!
