Did you stumble upon udder of mint compost at your local nursery or garden shopping center and marvel what the heck it was all about?Mintcompost , also call mint hay compost , is arrive at in popularity as a mulch across the country .
I had never take heed of mint compost until I visited a local nursery , and they had bags available for purchase . I had to love what it was and how to use it . Did that mean my compost would smack minty ? Would it make my other plants have a mass look ? Is it good than other compost ?
It turns out , mint mulch has flock to offer to gardeners , and I was surprised that I had never hear of it before . Let ’s dive into everything you need to know ; it might be on the dot what your garden needs !
What is Mint Compost?
Mint hay compost is a byproduct of the Mentha piperita and spearmint oil industry . Typically , ship’s company use a steam distillation process to take out the essential oils from the plant . The mint leaves are leftover from the cognitive operation .
On commercial-grade farms , farmers reap wad crops in a mode that is similar to the mental process of harvesting sens and legume hay . machine cut the mature plants , and the harvest plant life gentle wind dry in the fields for several days before being chop and get off to the distillery .
Upon arriver at the still , workers add the hack muckle hay into the steam distillation containers , where they process the oil from the flora at 212 ℉ for 90 bit . The steam vaporizes the essential oils , which are get off into a capacitance to cool , return to a liquid commonwealth .
Plenty of industrial plant materials stay on odd from the process . The remaining tidy sum parting are dark chocolate-brown or fateful in coloring and rich in organic matter . This is what make up mint hay compost .
5 Ways to Use Mint Compost
If you ’re concerned in using mint mulch , here are some way to use it in your garden .
1.Use It As An Organic Mulch
Mint hay compost can be used as a mulch in bloom and vegetable garden bed . If you want to practice it as a mulch , spread it evenly over your garden bed . put on a 3 to 4 - column inch thick level over the land , just as you would with other mulch .
Mint mulch works as a brusk - terminal figure gage barrier . When used as a mulch , it keeps stain temperature lovesome in the spring and fall meter or coolheaded in the summertime .
2.Use It As a Soil Amendment
If you work mint compost into the soil before planting , it work as a soil amendment . When added to clay grease , it can help to increase water drainage , making it easier for root to grow deeper into the basis . If you have sandlike soil , adding it to the earth will increase H2O memory .
3.Use It to Deter Pests
Mint plants have a strong olfactory property that many creatures find deterring . If you have issues with mouse and rats , using mint mulch in your garden prevents them from visiting . At the same prison term , the mint scent deters aphids from visit and produce prominent populations .
4.Use It As a Side Dressing
Another elbow room that you may apply mint mulch in your garden is as a side dressing around shrub and other garden works . When you use it as a side dressing , you ’ll amend plant alimentation and increases yields . To habituate , spread it manually along the base of your plant .
5.Use It In Your Orchard
Do you develop apples or other yield on your holding ? grove want mulching just as much as garden do . A survey completed which asked orchard proprietor about their experience with mint mulch point thatmany had first-class harvest time with in effect yields and improved tree growth .
The 7 Benefits of Mint Compost
While you might not have get wind of mint compost before , gardener , landscapers , and commercial-grade vegetable manufacturer , as well as orchard owners have used mint as mulch for age . It has dozens of benefits , but let ’s take a look at the most well - known one .
1. It Won’t Introduce Bacteria
Unlike other types of compost that might bring in virus or kingdom Fungi , the distillment procedure sanitizes mint compost . This process also kills weed come , plant life pathogen , virus , and kingdom Fungi . You do n’t have to concern about present anything that might damage your flora .
You might worry that it might carry the fungusVerticillium dahliae , which is the cause of verticillium wilt disease . However , that fungus can not live above 140 ℉ for more than 30 hour . Since the distillation unconscious process heat the great deal to above 200 ℉ for 90 minute , the fungus is unable to populate at that temperature .
2.Adds Organic Matter
Mint mulch contains yard of micronutrients that fauna manure compost , along with being a source of natural nutrient . It ’s gamy in nitrogen , and it also contains potassium and phosphorus . Those are the three most essential nutrients find in commercial fertilizer .
3.Promotes Sustainable Agriculture
One of the reason that people love mint mulch is that it put up sustainable USDA . It ’s a byproduct of a dependable , chemical substance - detached process . Instead of fling that byproduct out , companionship use it to make a usable ware that enrich the grime and decomposes over time .
4.Improves Water Retention
Adding mint mulch to your garden helps to amend the urine memory of your grease while also reducing the penury for irrigation .
If you mix it into the filth before planting , it can either help increase the drain of the soil or facilitate it retain more moisture . If you use it as a mulch , it stop the water from evaporating too quickly from the ground . That means you do n’t involve to irrigate as often .
5.Improves the Soil Quality
Mint compost turn back born humus , which can heighten clay stain and sandy soil . It ’s 100 % born , so it ’s the staring constitutional material to add to your garden bed . you may use it for grunge amendment as well because it has a inert pH level of 6.8 .
6.Regulates Soil Temperature
mulch your garden beds helps to keep soil temperatures warm while also controlling weeds .
If you apply a 3 - to-4 column inch heavyset stratum of mickle compost to your garden bed , it help keep the soil cooler during the summertime calendar month while also warm up the land during the spring and fall . Mulch this thick also stymy out the sunlight , so it nix the growth of gage .
7.Deters Bothersome Creatures
Many creatures are n’t big fan of the perfume of mint . Mint compost acts as a deterrent to mice , rat , and insect . That ’s why you’re able to implant mint around your garden bed to deter pesterer . It ’s good to keep tidy sum in a container , though , because it has an aggressive growth pattern . Mint can quickly take over a garden bed if left uncurbed .
Are There Any Cons to Mint Mulch?
For the most part , mint mulch has plenty of pros to using it in your garden , but there are a few cons to consider .
Using Mint Compost in Your Garden
While mint compost does n’t lean to the first choice for most gardeners , it has become more democratic over the year as it becomes more available . The essential oil market has grow exponentially , leading to more and more stack compost available .
If you require a compost that is dependable to use for almost all plants and wo n’t introduce bacteria yet has all of the needed food for plant life maturation , mickle compost could be the solution . Call your local garden midpoint or nurseries to require if they have any available for you .
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