Planting guide

When to plant mint

Fresh leaves for tea, lamb and desserts; spreads fast, so grow it in a pot. In Melbourne it goes in Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct, Nov.

Start as: Potted plant or Seedling
Ready in: 6–9 wks
Spacing: 40 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Plenty
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means mint can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Melbourne	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Brisbane	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Perth	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Adelaide	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Gold Coast	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Newcastle	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Sunshine Coast	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Canberra	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Geelong	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Wollongong	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Hobart	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Bendigo	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Launceston	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Rockhampton	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Blue Mountains	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Bundaberg	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Alice Springs	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Mildura	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Port Macquarie	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Wellington	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Christchurch	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Johannesburg	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Singapore	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant mint

Plant in a pot or sunk container; mint spreads by runners.
Keep the soil moist and give afternoon shade in hot weather.
Pick the tips often to keep it bushy.
Cut back hard in late winter.

Mint varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Spearmint Classicpot-friendly · mild · 6–9 wksThe all-round kitchen mint with a sweet, fresh taste
Peppermint Classicpot-friendly · hot · 6–9 wksStrong menthol flavour; great for tea
Moroccan Mint Classicpot-friendly · mild · 6–9 wksSweet, mild leaves for mint tea
Chocolate Mint Adventurouscolourful · pot-friendly · 6–9 wksPeppermint with a hint of chocolate; fun for kids