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I have bunches of nettles in my yard. I would like to get rid of them without without regrowth. Any suggestions which do no require chemicals or tilling the soil ?

Anna
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Where are the nettles growing? Is it a large patch, or are they scattered among plants you'd like to keep? If it is a large patch, you can smother them. The easiest way to do this would be to build a lasagna bed on top of them.

If they are scattered about with other plantings and assuming they're urticaria dioica, I'd grab some good leather gardening gloves, pull them and eat them. They're delicious and very healthy. I blanch them in boiling water to get rid of the sting, then add them to recipes just like you would spinach. I think the flavor is much better than spinach, though. Enjoy!

michelle
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  • Thanks for the tips, I will try them out. There is a large patch in a corner of the garden plus some growing in small patches in the orchard, and some which creep in the flower beds. I heard that cutting them short over and over again would get rid of them; is that effective ? Does smothering small patches work ? Won't they just extend underground ? Is their presence related to the soil type ? – Anna Aug 31 '12 at 20:22
  • Mowing them may work - I'm not sure how long it will take, though. I've accidentally sat in nettles in someone's lawn before, so I am quite sure it isn't immediate. ;) Nettles love rich garden soil, and they do spread by runners, so you may be better off hand pulling the small patches. They come up very easily, in my experience. – michelle Sep 04 '12 at 17:05