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Nettles
Didee8
Posts: 30
There is a large patch in my garden that always produces lots of nettles -how can I get rid of them permanently?
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Posts
You have to keep weeding and never let them seed. Nettles make a lot of seed and it's all there in the soil waiting to germinate when conditions are good.
Old saying, 'One year's seeding makes seven year's weeding'. That is a very conservative estimate
In the sticks near Peterborough
Thank you, I know very little about gardening/weeding etc. so that is very helpful to know. Are any weedkillers better than others?
Thank you I'll just get digging then but look into this nettle wash thing too!
Eat 'em (lovely soup, or cooked like spinach), drink 'em (tea, beer). Make free fertilizer ! Don't waste anything.
That's amazing i would like to use it for food and hair but I would like to have them identified for certain to make sure they are actually nettles-I'll take a photo and upload or check on the internet first. Thanks
When you dig them out you'll find that stinging nettle roots are yellow - get all of them out and you're halfway to success
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I always have loads of nettles in my garden - a sign of good, fertile soil and they do make a great addition to the compost heap and a good tea for feeding leafy plants.
They come up between treasures now, rather than in great clumps, so no question of spraying. However they're easy to pull up, especially after rain and they do get fewer every year although my garden is surrounded by pastoral and arable fields so they're always trying to invade under the fences too.
Regular pulling will do it eventually and if you clear a bed or area for replanting, take the opportunity to fork it over well and remove extra bits of root.
This is a great website/forum - thanks to everyone for all of your advice. I have now starting digging them up and will look for a nettle tea and rinse recipes after checking that they are what I think they are first. I have already being checking out you tube and read so much on the benefits of nettles for male/female health that I might actually cultivate a small area if them instead of getting rid of them - what a turnaround!