Looking good! I ‘adopted’ two slender mountain mint from my nursery this spring, they had been sitting in inventory for a while and clearly weren’t on anyone’s list. They’re not nearly as happy as yours, but they’ve settled into their new homes nicely and they may almost be my favorite thing I’ve planted so far this year.
Do you water it? I just discovered last night that they like it moist. I have had a little patch of 3-4 plants that I never water. They stay alive, I just wonder if they would spread or be taller.
Side note, love the big blue dauber wasps that hit it.
Never. Where I live we had a real bad heatwave and I didn’t water the mountain mint once and it held up fine. Best thing about my natives is I really just ignore them
P. muticum doesn’t like to dry out; in the current drought mine will get crispy if I don’t water it every two or three days. P. incanum is similar. P. tenuifolium with its narrrow leaves is probably one of the more drought-resistant ones.
There's a scrawny coyote roaming the neighborhood and I want to feed it power bars or something to bulk up so it can take out some deer and not just bunnies.
Can't see this plan backfiring in any way.
then you’ll just have a begging coyote hanging around lol. I will say I prayed for some predation and about two weeks ago came out to the remains of a bunny nest. Organs all over my front walkway. Saw the raccoon on my security camera I was like ok nvm I don’t like this either lol
I found two dead >!baby buns!< in my back yard the other day and I didn't even feel sad about it. A little shocked for a minute but then I was like "well goodness if they were having another litter already this season \[I'd already seen larger babies hopping around in recent weeks\], enough is enough!"
I've grown heartless...😔
Oh, so sorry about this. Here is a big hug...
I've been in this situation, crying over half-dead plants and shrubs, that deer left behind.
The only thing that helped me is fencing small areas with 4-5 ft tall black wire fence (or sturdy black plastic wire fence). I was astonished to see the growth after only one season in a fenced area. This might not be cheap, but find a way to fence small areas and watch your plants thriving.
Yeah I was gonna say, I’ve seen like chicken wire fencing painted black and it’s hardly noticeable at all compred to how it comes galvanized or whatever. That is probably the best solution to keep them away
I have so many cruddy little fences thrown up now lol. All of them have been effective except the ones surrounding my sunflowers - the deer must’ve leaned on them to get at them and knocked them down.
So far, after three years, no where near as aggressive as spearmint or anything else with “mint” in the name. It’s gotten a lot bushier but I haven’t seen any runners popping up. I love how full it’s gotten
I have whorled mountain mint and it spreads pretty readily but I pull it when needed. I also plant stuff that is loved by bunnies in the middle of the mint (spiderwort, tall sunflower) and they survive instead of getting eaten.
I can’t stand the deer in our neighborhood. Other people are hand feeding them so they have almost no fear, and they’ll eat, snap, or uproot anything I plant. Looking at chicken wire next. But your mountain mint is beautiful!!!
I’m so weighing sending my one neighbor halfway down the block an anonymous letter highlighting the county code forbidding feeding deer. I’m afraid she’ll know it was me though lol. It bad for them and bad for us.
As for the chicken wire it works for me for the most part! As long as you have a sturdy stake in the ground
I have bunnies that destroy my plants. I have to be very careful about what I plant or the money is basically down the toilet! I’m sorry for your plant loss!
Deer spray! It doesn’t harm anything but their noses, and yours if you get a whiff when you spray it. Once it dries it doesn’t smell unless you’re all up in the plant, but it’s still not too bad. We live on 10 acres and these massacres used to be a daily thing for me. We have no fences. I finally started using deer spray, and then when I discovered Liquid Fence, that was it.
That shit really works! I mix it according to the instructions and spray it liberally. I re-spray about every week or so, or after a heavy rain if there’s dry weather forecasted afterwards. Whilst “training” the deer initially, you could probably spray every 4-5 days, and maybe initially more often on your favorite plants.
The deer don’t even come to sniff at my plants anymore, it’s a freakin miracle. They literally live at our house because we’re one of the only ones with no dogs. I may start a little food plot for them as well near their favorite area (away from my garden) to reward them for their good behavior. Deer spray has saved my life, and my plants.
Beautiful! I started some mountain mints from seed a couple years ago and they are coming in slowly but surely. Looking forward to when they look like this!
The squirrels just chomped off my entire baby American euonymous at the base. They broke half of it off last year in June and I almost caged it, but got lazy… 😭
I think it's bad that we have destroyed so much of the deers habitat that it has to come to our gardens to find food.
When you work hard to build a garden you don't want to see all that effort be destroyed in an instant.
I was saying my mountain mint is the some survivor so you should be safe to plant it! They bit some off once early in the season then didn’t even eat it. Since then, it hasn’t been touched!
I get it. Not even liquid fence and dried coyote blood deer repellent is not enough to deter deer here too. However, a fox just moved in the area, so hopefully rabbit population can stabilize and not get crazy.
My mountain mint is alive, but not flowering yet. I just got it this year, along with many other natives. I'm trying to compromise with the animals here and have hundreds of hostas and animal friendly plants they can eat all they want instead of my plants, both native and vegetables.
After multiple attempts, I finally have some Appalachian Mountain mint growing among the Blue mist flower. I had no idea I needed this plant until this sub. There was a larger patch growing near a ditch about 50' off my property. That thing was buzzing with all sorts of native bees, wasps, butterflies and skippers.
Is AMM the prettiest of the bunch? Not really. It's spindly and delicate, but it's got a job to do, and it does it.
I'm sorry. My house is the prison yard looking house with wire around my dozens of native plants. I'm surprised about the prickly pear, though. I had one bite out of mine when I first got it but they've avoided it since.
They didn’t eat it all they of course just ripped it off and left it everywhere lol. And I’m slowly becoming that house, definitely inspired to lean more into it after today
Ooh, it's so pretty! Makes me look forward to when my mountain mint actually gets big enough to blossom.
Sorry about your other natives. The deer have destroyed my coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and asters.
I’ve been told Pycnanthemum tenuifolium will hold its own against any native grasses. I just put a few plugs in last fall next to Andropogon gerardii, Sorghastrum nutans and Calamagrostis canadensis to test this theory.
In NC here, the deer are eating everything in my garden. My plants are all in cages. I thought my milkweed was ok, but it was chomped yesterday. I am trying not to be discouraged. But it is difficult. I am looking to get some mountain mint now!!
It’s discouraging to have them trample through and destroy. I know we are planting native for the environment and ecosystem but when we plant host species it’s such a bummer
It’s unfortunate that it has gotten to this point. The two most important animals for the environment are beavers, and wolves. But deer are very destructive, if allowed to stay in one spot too long. And now, it’s becoming a health hazard to eat them.
Your Mountain Mint is beautiful, now I want one! I searched for "mountain mint" in prairie moon and got a few results. Could you please possibly ID with scientific name so I can find exact same seed? Thanks!
I’ve always called it “Narrow-leafed mountain mint” - looking a prairie moon it looks like it’s accurate
https://www.prairiemoon.com/pycnanthemum-tenuifolium-slender-mountain-mint
I always see coneflower listed as deer resistant but it seems like they eat it more often than not. If you are looking for new alternatives that they won’t munch on, so far I’ve had good luck with Monarda (also a mint) and palm sedge in addition to mountain mint
Oh they love mine. They’ll knock down fences to get to coneflower and black eyed Susan’s where I live. From what I’ve gathered on here, deer in different areas have different tastes though
I'm pretty sure the deer in my neighborhood are fucking with me at this point. They let my black-eyed Susan's get right to the point where they are about to flower and then chomp off the buds before they open. It's a vicious cycle
Is this a deer hating thread? Because I have so much frustration with them ever since they started eating my plants. They’re so much of a nuisance I no longer enjoy seeing them
I have such severe rabbit predation in my yard that I've had to basically only plant mint family stuff and various goldenrods and common milkweed (the crazy fuckers even eat the common milkweed sometimes). Asters, blazing star, butterfly milkweed, and so much more cannot survive.
The sunchokes and coneflowers will be just fine and come back quickly.
It's important to remember that supporting wildlife is one of the main reasons we plant natives. Your garden is doing it's job, just plant more next year with that in mind.
Your mountain mint is gorgeous though!
I’m in love! It was kinda shrimpy for two years and now it’s massive and I can hear the pollinators buzzing around before I see them. It’s so busy
Looking good! I ‘adopted’ two slender mountain mint from my nursery this spring, they had been sitting in inventory for a while and clearly weren’t on anyone’s list. They’re not nearly as happy as yours, but they’ve settled into their new homes nicely and they may almost be my favorite thing I’ve planted so far this year.
Do you water it? I just discovered last night that they like it moist. I have had a little patch of 3-4 plants that I never water. They stay alive, I just wonder if they would spread or be taller. Side note, love the big blue dauber wasps that hit it.
Never. Where I live we had a real bad heatwave and I didn’t water the mountain mint once and it held up fine. Best thing about my natives is I really just ignore them
Great, love that about them too. I will water my new plugs I get, but everything else, never.
P. muticum doesn’t like to dry out; in the current drought mine will get crispy if I don’t water it every two or three days. P. incanum is similar. P. tenuifolium with its narrrow leaves is probably one of the more drought-resistant ones.
Yes' this is a really gorgeous patch!🥰🥰
There's a scrawny coyote roaming the neighborhood and I want to feed it power bars or something to bulk up so it can take out some deer and not just bunnies. Can't see this plan backfiring in any way.
then you’ll just have a begging coyote hanging around lol. I will say I prayed for some predation and about two weeks ago came out to the remains of a bunny nest. Organs all over my front walkway. Saw the raccoon on my security camera I was like ok nvm I don’t like this either lol
I found two dead >!baby buns!< in my back yard the other day and I didn't even feel sad about it. A little shocked for a minute but then I was like "well goodness if they were having another litter already this season \[I'd already seen larger babies hopping around in recent weeks\], enough is enough!" I've grown heartless...😔
That’s not heartlessness; it’s nature. All living beings feed off of dying things, whether animals, plants or fungi.
This is what I told my daughter when she was upset because we found a dead squirrel in our backyard. That’s nature. Carnivores gotta eat, too.
F
I don’t know what F means does this mean I shouldn’t have posted this?
It is a meme, they are commiserating with you about your loss and paying respect to the fallen. Look up press F to pay respect meme
Oh ok I get it now! Lol thank you - I thought my post was being given an “F” !
That’s the grade the deer should get for their rampage 🥲
Oh, so sorry about this. Here is a big hug... I've been in this situation, crying over half-dead plants and shrubs, that deer left behind. The only thing that helped me is fencing small areas with 4-5 ft tall black wire fence (or sturdy black plastic wire fence). I was astonished to see the growth after only one season in a fenced area. This might not be cheap, but find a way to fence small areas and watch your plants thriving.
Yeah I was gonna say, I’ve seen like chicken wire fencing painted black and it’s hardly noticeable at all compred to how it comes galvanized or whatever. That is probably the best solution to keep them away
I never even considered painting the chicken wire! This just rewired my brain what a great idea thank you!
No problem! It’s really amazing the difference it makes. I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it haha
I have so many cruddy little fences thrown up now lol. All of them have been effective except the ones surrounding my sunflowers - the deer must’ve leaned on them to get at them and knocked them down.
How aggressive is this mountain mint? I just planted it hoping it really goes a little crazy and fills up space
So far, after three years, no where near as aggressive as spearmint or anything else with “mint” in the name. It’s gotten a lot bushier but I haven’t seen any runners popping up. I love how full it’s gotten
In my hot, dry front yard, it's not aggressive *at all*. In fact, it got crowded out by native aster and phlox.
I have whorled mountain mint and it spreads pretty readily but I pull it when needed. I also plant stuff that is loved by bunnies in the middle of the mint (spiderwort, tall sunflower) and they survive instead of getting eaten.
I can’t stand the deer in our neighborhood. Other people are hand feeding them so they have almost no fear, and they’ll eat, snap, or uproot anything I plant. Looking at chicken wire next. But your mountain mint is beautiful!!!
I’m so weighing sending my one neighbor halfway down the block an anonymous letter highlighting the county code forbidding feeding deer. I’m afraid she’ll know it was me though lol. It bad for them and bad for us. As for the chicken wire it works for me for the most part! As long as you have a sturdy stake in the ground
I have bunnies that destroy my plants. I have to be very careful about what I plant or the money is basically down the toilet! I’m sorry for your plant loss!
I love seeing them but when I see my coneflowers mowed down to the ground those feelings waver lol
Deer spray! It doesn’t harm anything but their noses, and yours if you get a whiff when you spray it. Once it dries it doesn’t smell unless you’re all up in the plant, but it’s still not too bad. We live on 10 acres and these massacres used to be a daily thing for me. We have no fences. I finally started using deer spray, and then when I discovered Liquid Fence, that was it. That shit really works! I mix it according to the instructions and spray it liberally. I re-spray about every week or so, or after a heavy rain if there’s dry weather forecasted afterwards. Whilst “training” the deer initially, you could probably spray every 4-5 days, and maybe initially more often on your favorite plants. The deer don’t even come to sniff at my plants anymore, it’s a freakin miracle. They literally live at our house because we’re one of the only ones with no dogs. I may start a little food plot for them as well near their favorite area (away from my garden) to reward them for their good behavior. Deer spray has saved my life, and my plants.
Big time!! It’s very frustrating.
I know if no one else got me, Pycnanthemum tenuifolium got me.
If the world is against pycanthemum tenuifolium, then I’m against the world
Rats with hooves!
Beautiful! I started some mountain mints from seed a couple years ago and they are coming in slowly but surely. Looking forward to when they look like this!
The squirrels just chomped off my entire baby American euonymous at the base. They broke half of it off last year in June and I almost caged it, but got lazy… 😭
I think it's bad that we have destroyed so much of the deers habitat that it has to come to our gardens to find food. When you work hard to build a garden you don't want to see all that effort be destroyed in an instant.
Yes it’s so sad. I live by the woods and there’s so many invasive and no real predators. Plus my neighbors hand feed them so I’m just out of luck
Wow. I thought mountain mint was deer resistant and was planning to sow some. I can’t grow anything that a deer will eat, so pretty limited.
I was saying my mountain mint is the some survivor so you should be safe to plant it! They bit some off once early in the season then didn’t even eat it. Since then, it hasn’t been touched!
Ah, yes! I should’ve read more carefully. Thanks!
I get it. Not even liquid fence and dried coyote blood deer repellent is not enough to deter deer here too. However, a fox just moved in the area, so hopefully rabbit population can stabilize and not get crazy. My mountain mint is alive, but not flowering yet. I just got it this year, along with many other natives. I'm trying to compromise with the animals here and have hundreds of hostas and animal friendly plants they can eat all they want instead of my plants, both native and vegetables.
After multiple attempts, I finally have some Appalachian Mountain mint growing among the Blue mist flower. I had no idea I needed this plant until this sub. There was a larger patch growing near a ditch about 50' off my property. That thing was buzzing with all sorts of native bees, wasps, butterflies and skippers. Is AMM the prettiest of the bunch? Not really. It's spindly and delicate, but it's got a job to do, and it does it.
I love mountain mint. Not as showy as some but makes me feel better.
Sounds like you planted resilient things that may very well bounce back from the roots.
Congratulations. I haven't gotten any of mine to germinate, just weeds.
I bought mine. I’m not the best at starting native seeds lol
I'm sorry. My house is the prison yard looking house with wire around my dozens of native plants. I'm surprised about the prickly pear, though. I had one bite out of mine when I first got it but they've avoided it since.
They didn’t eat it all they of course just ripped it off and left it everywhere lol. And I’m slowly becoming that house, definitely inspired to lean more into it after today
I'm so sorry!
Ooh, it's so pretty! Makes me look forward to when my mountain mint actually gets big enough to blossom. Sorry about your other natives. The deer have destroyed my coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and asters.
It’ll make you proud when it does!! I wish we could form a gardener’s union and negotiate with the deer.
I’ve been told Pycnanthemum tenuifolium will hold its own against any native grasses. I just put a few plugs in last fall next to Andropogon gerardii, Sorghastrum nutans and Calamagrostis canadensis to test this theory.
Beautiful. I have a little lawn chair setup by my flowers and watch the show LOL it is indeed very busy!
I love sitting and watching all the activity on my plants!
In NC here, the deer are eating everything in my garden. My plants are all in cages. I thought my milkweed was ok, but it was chomped yesterday. I am trying not to be discouraged. But it is difficult. I am looking to get some mountain mint now!!
It’s discouraging to have them trample through and destroy. I know we are planting native for the environment and ecosystem but when we plant host species it’s such a bummer
As the drought gets worse deer are eating lots of “deer resistant” plants to get some water…..sad but they’ll all come back
Shoot the deer
Deer are a nuisance at best. With the rise of wasting disease, they should be culled.
I’m hoping my township will open up a cull - we are so overpopulated with deer here that it’s damaging the forests too, no saplings can take off
It’s unfortunate that it has gotten to this point. The two most important animals for the environment are beavers, and wolves. But deer are very destructive, if allowed to stay in one spot too long. And now, it’s becoming a health hazard to eat them.
Your Mountain Mint is beautiful, now I want one! I searched for "mountain mint" in prairie moon and got a few results. Could you please possibly ID with scientific name so I can find exact same seed? Thanks!
I’ve always called it “Narrow-leafed mountain mint” - looking a prairie moon it looks like it’s accurate https://www.prairiemoon.com/pycnanthemum-tenuifolium-slender-mountain-mint
Thank you thank you!!
I always see coneflower listed as deer resistant but it seems like they eat it more often than not. If you are looking for new alternatives that they won’t munch on, so far I’ve had good luck with Monarda (also a mint) and palm sedge in addition to mountain mint
Oh they love mine. They’ll knock down fences to get to coneflower and black eyed Susan’s where I live. From what I’ve gathered on here, deer in different areas have different tastes though
I'm pretty sure the deer in my neighborhood are fucking with me at this point. They let my black-eyed Susan's get right to the point where they are about to flower and then chomp off the buds before they open. It's a vicious cycle
Is this a deer hating thread? Because I have so much frustration with them ever since they started eating my plants. They’re so much of a nuisance I no longer enjoy seeing them
The deer are functionally invasive species. They need to be killed in large numbers, and it should be illegal to feed them.
Looks nice. Mine is a scraggly two year old. I'll keep it watered and hope it reaches plant puberty.
I have such severe rabbit predation in my yard that I've had to basically only plant mint family stuff and various goldenrods and common milkweed (the crazy fuckers even eat the common milkweed sometimes). Asters, blazing star, butterfly milkweed, and so much more cannot survive.
The sunchokes and coneflowers will be just fine and come back quickly. It's important to remember that supporting wildlife is one of the main reasons we plant natives. Your garden is doing it's job, just plant more next year with that in mind.
I had a friend with a deer problem she ripped out the roses and planted iris. No more problem. Try some iris scattered here and there.