Clinopodium nepeta
Calamint
Common names: Lesser Calamint, Mountain Mint, Mountain Calamint, Nepitella
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 40 cm, rows 50 cm
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Sowing
- Mar–May
- Harvest
- Jun–Oct
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −20 °C
- Water need
- Low
- Origin
- Native to Germany
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Calamint, botanically Clinopodium nepeta, is a bushy perennial that grows in the Mediterranean region on sunny, lime-rich roadsides and dry grasslands. It grows 30 to 60 cm tall and bears small, grey-green, slightly hairy leaves that smell of mint with a hint of oregano when touched. From July to October, tiny pale lilac to white lipped flowers cover the whole plant. Bees, bumblebees, and butterflies visit throughout the day. In the garden, it suits gravel beds, bed edges, sunny paths, and containers. In the kitchen, fresh leaves season mushrooms, artichokes, zucchini, and tomato sauce; in Italy it is called Nepitella. Unlike many mints, it spreads only slightly, but it forms runners and readily self-seeds in permeable, sunny soil.
Care instructions
Plant calamint in a full-sun, warm spot with permeable, rather lean soil, spacing plants about 40 cm apart. The planting period is April to September. In the first year, water thoroughly during dry spells; afterwards, it manages with rainfall and tolerates hot summers. No fertilizer is needed, as in nutrient-rich soil it becomes leggy and falls apart. In March or April, cut all last year's shoots back to about one hand's width above the ground, and it will regrow compactly. Harvest the leaves regularly; they are most aromatic just before and during flowering. Avoid waterlogging and shade: wet roots cause the roots to rot in winter, and in shade it flowers sparsely. Where it self-seeds, simply pull out surplus seedlings or give them away.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingMar–May
HarvestJun–Oct
FloweringJul–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 10 °C, ideally 18 °C
- Days to sprout
- 14 to 28 days
- Light
- Needs light to sprout
- Sowing depth
- Press in, don't cover
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, lean, dry, lime-loving
Lesser calamint loves well-drained, rather barren soil, such as chalk grassland, rock beds and sunny wall tops provide. Sandy or stony loam, which may contain lime, is ideal. In rich, moist soil it turns soft and flops apart, and flowering declines. The roots do not tolerate wet feet in winter. On heavy soils, therefore, work in plenty of sand or gravel and plant slightly raised.
Feeding
Light feeder
Lesser calamint needs no fertiliser. On barren soil it stays compact and smells strongly; in nutrient-rich garden soil it grows soft and flops apart. This also applies in a container: there, instead, replace part of the soil with fresh, sandy soil in spring every few years.
Overwintering
Lesser calamint is hardy and in Central Europe survives frosts down to about minus 20 °C without protection, as long as the soil is not waterlogged in winter. In the bed you do not need to do anything; leave the shoots standing over winter and cut them back only in March. In a container, put the pot against a sheltered house wall and raise it on feet so that water drains away. In lasting frost, wrap it in hessian or horticultural fleece, because the root ball in a pot freezes through more than in the bed.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Division
- Cuttings
You can raise lesser calamint from seed, divide it or propagate it from cuttings. The seeds are very fine: scatter them from March to May on moist seed compost, press them down only, cover them at most with a wafer-thin layer and keep them evenly moist at about 18 to 20 °C. Germination can take a few weeks, and the young plants go into the bed after the Ice Saints (mid-May). Divide older plants in April or September with a spade and replant the pieces straight away. In early summer, shoot tips can also be inserted into sandy soil as cuttings. On open, lean soil, lesser calamint also sows itself.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
nightshade family (Solanaceae)
particularly well establishedYou will find that basil next to tomato and pepper improves taste and keeps whiteflies and aphids away.
For example PotatoTomatoSweet pepperCocktail tomatoEggplantCape gooseberry and 14 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
cabbage family (Brassicaceae)
You will notice that the intense scent of basil, thyme, and others confuses the cabbage whitefly and keeps it away from the cabbage family.
For example White cabbageKohlrabiRadishKalebroccolicauliflower and 41 more species in the catalogue
Source: bio-gardening intercropping practice
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Calamint yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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