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Open Source Apothecary At Home / Growing it
The plants that pay for themselves in year one — and the ones you should never let into open ground.
growingThe mints and lemon balm are the highest-value first plants for a household apothecary: they establish in a single season, they are harvested repeatedly, they tolerate the wet clay soils that defeat Mediterranean herbs, and they have genuine clinical evidence behind them rather than tradition alone.
Why they are first. Peppermint has meta-analytic support for IBS symptom relief in enteric-coated form. Lemon balm has randomised trial evidence for anxiety and for sleep quality. Spearmint has trial evidence in a different area entirely — androgens and hirsutism — which is a useful reminder that a genus name does not transfer evidence between species.
The one rule that matters: containment. Mentha species and lemon balm spread by runners and will colonise a bed, a lawn, or a vegetable patch within two seasons. This is not a mild warning; it is the reason experienced growers keep them in containers. Sink a pot to the rim, or give them a bed of their own, or accept that they are now the ground cover.
Harvest is continuous, and that changes the plant's habit. Repeated cutting of mint produces a bushier plant and leaf of higher quality; letting it flower shifts resources into flowering and the leaf declines in aroma. For leaf production, cut before flowering and take the top third rather than trimming the base.
Why the flowering stage matters for aroma. Leaf essential-oil content and profile change across the season, and the pre-flowering window is the one most often recommended for leaf quality. This is the generic harvest-timing principle in its easiest-to-observe form: smell a mint before it flowers and after, and the difference is not subtle.
Spearmint, peppermint, and why the distinction is not cosmetic. They are different species with different dominant compounds — menthol in peppermint, carvone in spearmint — and the clinical literature follows the species, not the genus. When a claim is attached to peppermint, it does not belong to spearmint.
Other easy aromatics to grow alongside them: lemon balm, catnip, hyssop, anise hyssop and bergamot (Monarda). All tolerate real soil, all establish quickly, and all give a usable harvest in the first season.
Further high-quality studies are needed to firmly establish the clinical efficacy of the lemon balm.PubMed 34449930 ↗
Genome-wide association studies have identified hundreds of genetic variants associated with blood pressure (BP), but sequence variation accounts for a small fraction of the phenotypic variance.PubMed 29198723 ↗
However, the current literature provides little support for the widespread use of vitamin C supplementation to reduce CVD risk or mortality.PubMed 27529239 ↗
Future studies should assess the long-term efficacy and safety of peppermint oil and its efficacy relative to other IBS treatments including antidepressants and antispasmodic drugs.PubMed 24100754 ↗
Bronchodilators such as albuterol or salbutamol do not improve oxygen saturation, do not reduce hospital admission after outpatient treatment, do not shorten the duration of hospitalization and do not reduce the time to resolution of illness at home.PubMed 24937099 ↗
Mint (peppermint, spearmint) and lemon balm
| | Details | |---|---| | Light | Full sun to part shade; more sun for higher oil content | | Soil | Any reasonably fertile soil; tolerates clay better than most herbs | | Water | Consistent moisture; these are not drought plants | | Spacing | 30-45 cm, but containment matters more than spacing | | Life | Perennial, herbaceous | | Harvest | Continuous, top third, before flowering | | First harvest | Same season as planting, from divisions or cuttings |
Containment — do this deliberately
Planting
Cutting for leaf
After flowering
Drying these specifically
Winter
Companion aromatics to plant with them
What not to do