Cultural control

Stinging nettle grows from early spring through the summer. The best time to harvest them is while they’re still a small, no more than a foot tall, because that’s when the leaves are the most tender. The leaves are best harvested while they’re still young and before the plant starts flowering.

Soil – Place your stinging nettle in a spot with moist fertile soil for best results. Sun – Stinging nettles can grow well in full sun or part shade. As mentioned previously, our main patch is thriving in a spot that only gets about 4 hours of direct sunlight in the summer.

Nettles are best eaten when tender so early to mid spring is when they’re at their seasonal best.

This straight tall plant with its hairy square stem has toothed leaves (that are similar to a stinging nettle but without the sting!) which grow off the main stem in opposite pairs.

1. It is important to prevent stinging nettles, especially the annual nettles, seeding by cutting down plants in mid-summer, or earlier.
2. In light soils, or where there are isolated clumps, digging out will be effective.

The best time to cut nettles for a liquid plant fertiliser is early spring, as this is when the nitrogen content is at its highest. To ensure that the butterfly larvae are not disturbed it is best to cut in March and again (if you want to) in October.

Common nettle is favoured by conditions in woodland clearings and at the early stages of coppicing. It likes high nitrogen levels and can survive in moderate shade. The rhizomes have difficulty penetrating compacted soil and it prefers open textured soils of pH 5.0 to 8.0.

California Hedge Nettle is a low-growing herb with pink flowers and crumpled-looking leaves. The plant is quite hairy throughout and the leaves have a lemony odor when crushed.

Because it’s rich in nitrogen, this is particularly useful for leafy vegetables like kale, chard and spinach. You can also cut nettles to lay, as they are, around larger plants or shrubby fruits, where they will serve as a valuable mulch. Their high nitrogen content also makes them a natural compost activator.

Stinging nettles are great wildlife attractors: caterpillars of the small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies use them as foodplants; ladybirds feast on the aphids that shelter among them; and seed-eating birds enjoy their autumn spoils.