Scented Water Mint

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Water mint is common in central Russia, Europe, as well as in North-West Africa and South-West Asia. The main places of its growth are areas near swamps, rivers, ponds and streams, or wet soils. In the middle lane, it is generally considered the most common marsh plant. It will not be difficult to cultivate this light lilac beauty in artificial reservoirs. And with the help of water mint, you can disguise the shores of ponds, because most often it grows like a creeping plant

Getting to know the plant

Water mint is an excellent member of the Lamiaceae family. The height of this herbaceous perennial often reaches 90 cm. The stems of water mint are square in cross section and rather hairy. The width of the oval leaves of this water beauty is from 1 to 4 cm, and the length is from 2 to 6 cm. Sometimes these rounded pubescent leaves can acquire a slight reddish tint. If you rub them thoroughly in your hands, you can feel the characteristic smell of mint.

The tiny flowers of this wonderful perennial are collected in fluffy small umbellate inflorescences and are painted in a light lilac color. Such inflorescences are extremely attractive to bees. The bloom of water mint can be admired from mid to late summer. And the fruits of this beauty consist of four nut-like single-seeded parts.

Using water mint

In general, the properties of watermint are similar to those of peppermint, as the latter is a hybrid of spearmint with watermint. In short, this moisture-loving beauty can be used as a medicinal plant or become an excellent spicy-aromatic addition to all kinds of drinks and dishes. It has a fairly low content of essential oils and a very high content of menthol.

In folk medicine, water mint is used for stagnation in the gallbladder in order to obtain a choleretic effect. And as part of complex therapy, it is an excellent tool for eliminating abdominal pain that occurs when the intestines are disrupted. Also, indications for the use of this healing perennial are tachycardia (heart palpitations), diarrhea, flatulence, as well as an insufficiently active digestive process. It is noteworthy that water mint preparations are more preferred in the treatment of abdominal pain than peppermint preparations. For internal use, a special infusion is made from this plant - 15 g of raw materials are taken in a glass of boiling water. Take such an infusion daily, one glass in a warm form.

And for external use, excellent ointments are prepared from water mint, which are applied mainly to poorly healing wounds. In addition, such ointments are used to treat cervical erosion.

Also, this plant is used for herbal baths and to repel mice, rats and various insect pests. Water mint is also well suited for decorating the shores of reservoirs.

How to grow

Watermint takes root well and grows quite quickly. So that it does not drown out neighboring plants, it is best to grow it in baskets, periodically shortening the stretching stems. And in the ground it is usually planted in containers. The most optimal planting depth for this plant will be about 8 - 10 cm.

The soil for growing this fluffy beauty is better to select moisture-absorbing, humus-rich, acidic and loose. Water mint is planted in autumn or spring. In care, it is quite unpretentious and tolerates light partial shade quite well, although in general it is a light-loving plant. The thickets of this green pet are recommended to be renewed every three to four years.

When growing water mint outdoors, it is periodically advised to feed it with organic fertilizers such as compost or manure.

This extraordinary plant reproduces by dividing the bushes in the spring. In general, its reproduction is possible by layering, dividing rhizomes, cutting off roots and cuttings of stems.