15:27 - 10 May 2011
Most people hate nettles because they have a nasty sting to them, but actually nettles are very good for you. One of the best ways to get rid of them is to eat them, but you need to start picking the shoots as soon as they start sprouting in February and March. Even in May, the young leaves at the top can be carefully picked and added to soups, risottos and stir-fries. They quickly lose their sting on cooking and are a great and early alternative to spinach.
Most people baulk at the idea of eating nettles, but by continually cutting them back you actually weaken the plant and eventually it will die. Even if you don’t want to eat them, keep cutting them back to prevent them flowering until you are ready to deal with them.
To get to grips with nettles now you need to don some really thick gardening gloves and gauntlets, as well as trousers and gardening boots. Although stings are generally harmless they can irritate and cause a skin rash so it’s best to cover up any bare areas of skin and to take care when removing them. Even when uprooted, plants and leaves can still sting.
Start at the front of the clump and grasp the nettle stem firmly near the base and pull it up. They come up quite easily. Work backwards removing all the nettle stems one by one until you leave a woody web of roots at the surface. You can now dig this up or leave it to shoot again. When the shoots are large enough to handle repeat the process. Over time the clump will die out and the roots can be removed or left to rot in the ground. Ideally dig out all the roots carefully removing any runners and sifting through the soil. Keep an eye on the area, any stray roots and runners will quickly sprout if they are able to and should be dig up and removed as quickly as possible.
It’s important to tackle the nettles before they start to flower so you don’t spread seed around. Add the nettle leaves and stems to the compost heap, they are full of nitrogen and add valuable minerals to your compost. Alternatively you can pack them into barrels, add some water and wait for them to decompose, the resulting liquid can be diluted and used as a feed for your garden plants.
It’s always a good idea to leave a clump of nettles somewhere in the garden, it’s good for the soil as they bring up deep minerals and trace elements from the ground and they are very good for wildlife forming the food plant of many native butterflies.
Removing nettles manually takes dedication and time, there are powerful weedkillers available that you can use to tackle these perennial weeds, but bear in mind that the tiniest drop of weedkiller that drifts on to your other garden plants will kill them. Most powerful weedkillers are not selective and will kill any green plants within a few days of contact.
Wherever possible dig your nettles up with a garden fork removing as much of the root system as possible. If you inadvertently leave root sections in the soil these will often throw up shoots and develop into a new clump of stems. Keep an eye on the area you have cleared and if necessary dig it over again after two to three weeks.
If you don’t manage to remove the nettles before they set seed then keep a close eye open for tiny nettle seedlings, they aren’t hard to spot as they look like mini versions of the adult plant, but take care as even the tiny ones are still able to deliver a nasty sting.
