Monster mint!

[turbo_novice]

I hope this isn’t a controversial subject , but I’m after some help to get rid of my triffid like mint. I was foolish enough to plant it in a trough next to a strawberry plant and it very quickly took over! I pulled it all up and replanted in a pot (much safer!) and then dug up all around the existing strawberry and got rid of all the runners I could find.
I thought I’d managed to get rid of it and subsequently planted 2 more strawberries but it’s started coming up again. I dug up more runners and have covered the surface with a thick black bin liner with the strawberries poking through it, but the mint is still coming up under the plastic. Ever few days I look underneath and there are more shoots! It’s even started coming up through one of my strawberries!
How can I get rid of it?! Is there any safe way of applying a weed killer to the mint without affecting the other plants?
Please help!!!
Thank you!!!

[Garden Spider]

Mint can be thuggish--I grew mine in a container, and it still spread. Love the herb; hate its habits.

All you can do is keep pulling it. If any root is left, it will keep coming back. Pull it as soon as you see it--it's the only way to eradicate it. If it's really enmeshed in your strawberries, you may have to sacrifice a few strawberry plants to make sure you get all the mint.

Because of the strawberries, I would not use a weed killer in this situation. You could paint it on the individual mint sprouts--you can find sponge edgers in hardware stores in the paint section, those work the best. I'd still be very, very careful using it on mint that's coming up between the strawberries.

[aqh88]

Painting it is the only way I'd use any type of chemical on it but I haven't known it to work on established mint anyway. The leaves may completely die back but just when you think it's gone it pops back up again. Once it sets roots killing mint from the top down doesn't seem to work well. You have to dig it up. Luckily my spearmint was planted in an area that it can go nuts and I can just use somewhere else for my other plants.

If it isn't overly crowding the strawberries I'd just keep pulling it and live with a little mint but I love mint. If you really want to get rid of it I'd remove the strawberries to do it. My aunt always grew strawberries in hanging baskets. Then you can go at the mint all you want. I wonder if tarping works with mint? You just cover the area with a tarp for a summer or a year if you don't want to replant until next spring and it cooks the soil along with blocking any light so nothing is left growing there. Unless you eliminate it from the yard it will still come back into the area eventually though. I'm planning to do a raised bed with a weed barrier under my strawberries. No more weeds sneaking in from underground.

[turbo_novice]

Ah well, I thought it likely that there were no quick fixes! I'll just keep pullin it and hope it doens't get out of hand.

Many thanks!