Controlling plants speading in raised beds

[jemhunter]

Hello all,
I am building some raised bed to plant veggies and I would like to know how to keep certain plants from spreading and taking over the whole raised bed. For example, I want to plant mint and chive and I know they are quite invasive. But just generally, how you do keep plants in control so that we don't end up with too much of some and too few of others?
Thanks much

 

[Marck]

Greetings, welcome to the Forums.

To constrain most mints (Mentha) you will need a solid in-soil barrier, go down at least a foot if not more. Just growing a container of mint off to the side might be an easier option. Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) is not invasive like Mentha. Just reduce the clumps regularly by harvest or division.
Of course seedlings are a separate issue, though neither mints nor chives will self-sow at an incredible rate. In any case, you can always reduce seed production by picking flowers or immature fruit.

 

[jemhunter]

I did a barrier in my other container, and even a small gap, the roots get thru. I might have to use a separate container, but it's a pain to setup drip irrigation w/ a bunch of small containers.

 

[lliefveld]

I have peppermint growing in my garden, and about 2x/year, I pull or dig out all of the errant rooted stems and volunteer plants. I also keep it pruned fairly short, so there aren't a lot of floppy stems hitting the ground. The rooted stems come up pretty easily if you get to them soon enough. I do have freezes and snow in the winter, so that helps. When I grew it in a Mediterranean type zone it spread more quickly. But this method was still workable - I just had to do it more often. I find that if I cut if way back (like almost to the ground), and cut deeply all the way around it when I'm de-rooting, it stays under control.