[Frog]

Please can someone give us some advice on how to remove nettles from our plot. They are growing up the side of our shed, and are in amongst the patch of raspberries we inherited. Our 4 year old son keeps falling in them  :cry: so they have to go!!

[richyrich7]

Ouch !!

Dig them out or spray them off with a glyphosate based weedkiller.  

[muntjac]

nuke em with roundup when they start to grow from being small then after a fortnight they turn black .if you have any fresh green come through renuke it .....  " werks for me "  

[compostqueen]

I wouldn't dig em all up. Nettles are good If they're where you want them and can manage them. I leave some on the margins of my plot, under the hedge, by the compo bins. I let the leaves grow and use em in the bins as an accelerator. Nettles also make good fertiliser. They are also good to eat and are full of vitamins. You can use em in soup or where you'd use spinach, say in quiche    

They also provide a place for cabbage white butterflies to lay eggs. Better there than on your brassicas!

[Frog]

Thanks for your suggestions.
Unsure re using chemicals as don't want to harm any wildlife, or my kids ( :?: are these one and the same???!!!)
Would spraying chemicals on the nettles in the raspberries affect the raspberries?
Intrigued re nettle quiche - would love a recipe for that if you have one Compostqueen?! Does the sting go when you cook them?

[Nikkithefoot]

Frog

If you use glyphosate based weed killer it will kill any plant it touches, roots and all, as it is absorbed through the foliage (some need more than one dose to finally do the job). So if the nettles are mixed in with your raspberries you need to be very careful how you apply it. For best effects it needs to be applied when the plants are actively growing, wear rubber gloves and wipe over both sides of leaves, and ensure no rain for 6-12hours after. I guess you could apply it to any nettle foliage now though, as any raspberries are unlikely to be carrying a lot of foliage now.

Using gloves means you can be much more selective where the stuff goes. If there are large swathes of nettles only just spray the whole area to nuke 'em all.

Glyphosate doesn't harm the soil only the plants. I would keep kids and pets away until the spray has dried other than that it is supposed to be safe.................unless you are a weed!

Nikki

[Annie]

Nettle roots are quite shallow so I would just persist with hand weeding amongst the rasberries.You could glyophosphate by the shed but it would be easier to teach you child about stinging nettles and dock leaves as a sting soother and look up bugs that like nettles etc(very bug orientated at this age!)and when they get tall cut back as they are a good compost activator or turn into a nettle tea to feed the plants.

[Tinbasher]

Please can someone give us some advice on how to remove nettles from our plot. They are growing up the side of our shed, and are in amongst the patch of raspberries we inherited. Our 4 year old son keeps falling in them  :cry: so they have to go!!

Nettle stings can be good for you.  They aid circulation and help prevent a feeling of cold - cos you can think of nothing else but the stings.  :shock:

Roman legionnaries in Britain used to whip their bare legs with bunches of fresh nettles prior to a long march, as it helped in them being able to endure the march more easily.

I've picked loads of nettle tops in the past for making wine.  Around May, when the fresh top growth is out, they're at their stingiest.  You can't be delicate enough in the picking, swathed in gloves.  Despite trying to grab and thus avoid the stinging hairs, it's a folorn hope and one ends up with both hands receiving dozens of stings each.  Strangely, once you get used to the stings, it can become perversely pleasureable.  Or was I just delirious?

Makes a nice light white wine, best I've found slightly sweet and not too alcoholic.

[Eristic]

All little boys fall in the nettles. Its a little boy thing. But even little boys learn to keep away from the nettles. Eventually.

[puravida]

All little boys fall in the nettles. Its a little boy thing. But even little boys learn to keep away from the nettles. Eventually.

Very philosophical! I like that!

[Tinbasher]

All little boys fall in the nettles. Its a little boy thing. But even little boys learn to keep away from the nettles. Eventually.

Very philosophical! I like that!

But little boys who grow up into Centurions don't worry about such trivialities as nettles.

[shaun]

why is it when you get stung by nettles you can never find dock leaf  :?

[Esme]

why is it when you get stung by nettles you can never find dock leaf  :?

Easy to fix - plant dock by your nettle patch. . .  

[gobs]

All little boys fall in the nettles. Its a little boy thing. But even little boys learn to keep away from the nettles. Eventually.

Very philosophical! I like that!

But little boys who grow up into Centurions don't worry about such trivialities as nettles.

And I know of little girls who stepped into them once, never since.

Some nettle is good for the garden and for you.

Rather worry about that they don't fall into your fork, etc.

[kaz]

why is it when you get stung by nettles you can never find dock leaf  :?

Easy to fix - plant dock by your nettle patch. . .  

I'd rather have nettles than docks :x  - their roots must go down for miles  :x
There's something quite satisfying about pulling nettles out by the roots