Never Plant Mint Next To This Popular Vegetable: It Will Ruin Your Harvest

While we all might like a nice touch of mint in our lemonade or tea, sometimes this aggressive herb might not be so welcome in parts of the vegetable garden. In particular, it's not a great idea to grow mint next to your cucumbers. Mint will outcompete these salad veggies for nutrients and space, and, even worse, might affect their taste. 

This hardy perennial grows so aggressively that it can quickly take over an entire garden. While there are many plants in the mint family (7,000 and counting, actually), most of them reproduce quickly through rhizomes, like some of the gardening world's most invasive spreaders do — think bamboo and Bermuda grass. Mint can be almost as big a headache, especially if you're trying to grow vining vegetables like cucumbers. Plants that spread by rhizomes grow so quickly because they extend horizontally, rather than downward, like roots. As they grow outward, they propagate and grow new sprouts.

Since cucumber plants need space to grow, this is especially bad news when they are planted next to each other.  As mint grows aggressively in the garden, it'll suck up nutrients that cucumbers need. Both plants are heavy feeders that need lots of minerals to grow, and mint is likely to win the match. Even worse, they might also make them taste funny. Mint, like other strong, aromatic herbs, can affect the plants they grow next to, and that includes cucumbers. 

Instead of mint, think about growing something that has some extra benefit too. Dill, for instance, might repel pests that could target your cukes. It'll also have the added benefit of bringing butterflies fluttering to your garden. Shallots are another good choice since they may also keep parasites at bay. 

Arugula can be a useful companion plant as well. It might bring in lady bugs, which can help keep aphids from dining on cukes. You can also plant lettuce. Its shallow roots won't take over garden space or steal nutrients like mint will. 

If you must grow mint, keeping it in containers, can prevent it from spreading out through the garden. Plus, you can move your herbs around to catch the light or survive bad weather. You can even take it one step further and do the same with cukes, as well. It's actually The Old Farmer's Almanac tip for growing healthy cucumbers.