Two questions:
1. I had three thriving rosemary plants that had been in my garden for six or more years. Suddenly, over the course of a week, they went brown and basically died. This happened about two months after we had four weeks of rain every day, flooding, etc. I suspect there’s a connection, although I’m not sure. Does it seem logical that the heavy rains would cause this, and is there a chance they’ll come back next spring?
2. I have read that mint can help deter ants and possibly roaches. I got the bright idea that planting a border of mint around my house would help with those two issues. (I live in Texas, so “waterbugs”, aka big honkin’ roaches, are something of a disgusting given. The ants seem to think they’re a given every spring, too, no matter how much I clean. I’ve become a big fan of Terro.) In my imagination, this would be a small, six to twelve inch band around my foundation. I’ve thought about mixing in some sort of taller, decorative plant, like maybe a bulb/corm of some kind. However, I’m a little concerned about watering. Mint likes water, right? So I’d probably have to lay down a soaker hose to efficiently water that much mint enough, and I’m concerned about what that kind of watering would do to my concrete foundation. It shifts constantly as it is.
Okay, I lied: three questions–
3. In connection with #2, I bought two mint plants this spring and put them in my garden. I know they spread like crazy, but I’m hoping I can use them as starter plants to get enough to go around the house. Is it possible to get new mint plants from cuttings of established ones? If so, what’s the best way to go about it?
