Peppermint, or mentha spicata, is an aromatic plant that, in many homes, is present in kitchens for its culinary use. However, as you know, it can not only be used for this purpose. Sometimes, instead of having only a few branches or leaves, you will have the plant, and if you take good care of it, it is very possible that, sooner or later, you will face a task: prune the peppermint.
But how do you prune peppermint? When should it be done? How to do it without damaging the plant? If you ask yourself all these questions, then we are going to give you the keys that you must take into account so as not to have doubts when cutting the branches.
Should we prune peppermint?
Many people are somewhat reluctant to prune plants in general, because they consider that, if it does not happen in nature, they should not do it either so that the plant develops freely.
The problem is that with pruning what is achieved is that the plant achieves a better structure and also a quality of life. Not only that, but it positively influences the health of the plant, helping the energy to be distributed accordingly (for example, eliminating the dead parts where the energy can remain lodged but without any benefit).
Types of peppermint pruning
Before moving on, we have to tell you that peppermint does not have just one pruning. Actually there can be two types:
- La annual pruning, which is what is really considered as "pruning" because the branches that are not worth of the plant are cut and a greater intervention is made.
- La maintenance pruning, which simply consists of cutting branches that are in the way at that time but without going further (for example in the structure or with the aim of improving the quality of life).
When to prune peppermint?
The exact time to prune the peppermint is determined by the type of pruning you are going to give it. If we talk about annual pruning, it already indicates that it only occurs once a year. This takes place early spring, as long as there is no risk of frost, since peppermint does not tolerate low temperatures well.
In some areas, as long as the winter is not very severe, you can consider doing it in autumn, when its lethargy begins, but the best thing to recover earlier and also to develop faster is spring.
And what about maintenance pruning? This can be applied at any time of the year, including summer. Since no drastic cut is made or the plant will be stressed by only cutting a few branches, there would be no problem with that.
How to prune peppermint
Entering fully into the matter that concerns us, below we are going to give you the keys to prune peppermint efficiently. Of course, the first thing you need is to have some pruning shears. It is important that you disinfect them before touching the plant with them, so that you know that you are not going to cause any infection. You have to do the same when you finish.
Depending on the type of pruning you perform, the tasks to be carried out are different.
Maintenance pruning
As we have told you before, the objective is to cut some branches that are either too long, that have dried up, that do not work, etc. It is also used to eliminate "suckers", which are nothing more than buds that appear on the branches and stems and that "rob them of energy" these.
If you want to eliminate these suckers, you have to cut them as close to their surface as possible, diagonally, so that the water in them does not remain stagnant (because if this is the case it will end up rotting the plant). It is important that you do it before they reach two inches because if you leave them too much, it will damage the branch or the stem itself, and it could take longer for the peppermint to grow.
Others items to remove They are: dry stems and leaves, yellowish or that you think are wrong; already withered flowers that have not yet fallen; shoots from the roots; stems that hinder each other.
Annual pruning
Annual pruning is the most "drastic", but also the most effective in restoring health and vitality to the plant. When it comes to pruning peppermint, this pruning can have two objectives:
- Make the plant bloom and grow more.
- Renew it.
Prune the peppermint to make it bloom more
This pruning is intended to make the plant develop more and bloom with greater intensity. To do this, in early spring, you have to remove those buds that have already flowered, because they do not do so again. You should also remove everything that you would remove in maintenance pruning.
It is important that leave unbroken stems intact because it will be those, along with the new ones that are born, the ones that will flourish.
Once you have pruned, let a few days pass and help the plant with nutrients to regain its vitality (and this will also wake it up and encourage it to start growing).
Prune to renew peppermint
This is one of the most drastic prunings you can carry out and not many plants tolerate and support it. In other words, you can kill the plant. However, it has a good thing, and that is that you renew the entire structure of the plant by new and young shoots, which causes it to "reincarnate" into a new plant. "
For this, there is two ways to do it:
- Cutting the entire plant completely at ground level. It is important that you make sure that it will be strong enough to support it and, in addition, you must help it with fertilizers and other products that provide it with nutrients to get ahead.
- Eliminating only 50% of the plant. It is a less aggressive pruning but it allows you to get ahead much faster and better (for those who do not have enough strength).
Don't be afraid to prune the peppermint. Although at first you may be scared by not knowing if what you cut is important or not, it is resistant enough to endure if you provide it with the care what do you need. Do you have any questions about pruning?