Wild patch nettles

[orangeisthenewpuce]

I have part of my garden that is left to grow wild. When we moved in it was grassy with different weeds and flowers. We've lived here a couple of years and it is now covered in large stinging nettles. I know nothing about gardening so could someone tell me if and how to remove them or because it's a wild patch, should I just leave it be.

I would like to know too as I have the same by my raspberries.

Nettles are fairly easy to remove, as they don’t root too deeply or firmly. You need nettling gloves - thick gardening type gloves to protect you from getting stung - then just firmly grasp each nettle by its main stem and pull.
If you want to keep a small patch of them, they are v good for wild life, particularly in providing food for caterpillars. The problem is they tend to spread, so you have to keep pulling out the ones that spread elsewhere.

The nettles are an indication that that area is high in nutrients. If you’re not already doing it, cut the grass each year when it’s at its peak or soon after, ie late July or during August, and take the cuttings away and put them in your compost heap (or in your Council garden bin). That will give the flowers a better chance at competing with the grass and nettles.

The roots of nettles do not sting. So grub around till you find a root and give it a good tug. Keep going till you’ve removed all roots and their attached nettles. Be prepared to repeat each year for the next 2-3 years, but it will get steadily better. You don’t need gloves but you do need long sleeves.

Nettles in a sunny spot are the food plant of some of our showiest butterflies, including Peacock. But there are enough nettles around, I wouldn’t feel any compulsion to leave them, even in a wildlife garden.

Good advice so far. I agree you should remove all but a few of them as they tend to take over and strangle out wildflowers and such. Their roots can be very long but are shallow. So if you pull up a nettle don’t be surprised to get a metre of root with it.

Thanks all. Really helpful.

Thanks, great advice