Nepeta x faassenii 'Walker's Low' (Catmint) – Hardy Perennial (3L Pot)

Catmint makes a soft grey green mound smothered in lavender blue flowers from late spring right through to early autumn.

It grows 60cm tall and 90cm wide, wider than it is tall, so it billows rather than clumps, and the aromatic foliage releases its scent whenever you brush past. Few plants flower for as long or draw in as many bees, and it is a natural along a path edge, at the front of a gravel border or spilling over the side of a container. Deer and rabbits generally leave it well alone.

Give it full sun or a little light shade and free draining ground; once established it shrugs off dry spells, poor soil and exposed coastal sites. It arrives as an established plant in a 3 litre pot, ready to plant out. Cut it back hard after the first flush and it will flower all over again by late summer. One word of warning: cats like to roll in it and can flatten a young plant, so a few twiggy sticks over the crown for the first season is time well spent.

Cultural Information

• Common Name: Catmint
• Fully Grown Height and Spread: 60cm tall and 90cm wide
• Growth Habit: Low, mound forming and spreading
• Perfect For: Path edging, gravel gardens, cottage borders, ground cover and containers
• Foliage: Aromatic grey green leaves
• Flowering Time: May to September
• Planting Position: Full sun or partial shade, including dry and coastal gardens. Grows well in containers
• Soil Type: Well drained. Tolerates poor, dry and sandy soil
• Hardiness: Fully hardy in the UK, though it dislikes cold wet ground all winter
• Maintenance: Cut back after the first flush of flower for a second wave, and tidy old growth in early spring
• Seasonal Interest: Spring, summer and autumn
• Type: Hardy herbaceous perennial