The Nettles At The Bottom Of The Garden Have Started To Look...

[sandyRoe]

very tired and straggly. Is this usual? Are they at their prime earlier in the year?

[ludwig]

You've obviously been neglecting to feed them sandy. Try a bit of miracle gro multi-purpose.

[sandyRoe]

I'd read somewhere that butterflies like nettles and lay their eggs on them. I hope they're sturdy enough to provide sustenance for the caterpillars. Letting them grow also saves me a bit of elbow grease.

[Tilly2]

I have a nettle patch too, sandy. The trick is to keep it as a patch and don't let them encroach on the rest of the garden. I let mine grow for the butterflies.

[boxtops]

I keep my nettles for butterflies too, and cut them down as soon as they've flowered.

[jomifl]

You need to cut them back so that they regrow from the rhizomes.

[Chipchopper]

Nettles being herbaceous perennial's (tops dieing back to the ground each year), it would seem about right, at this time of year,as the nettles are now maturing and at the flowering stage, which is the point of climax of their cycle.

[EcclesCake]

Sorry, I'm sniggering at the thought of the nettles all a quiver as they climax :-)

[dancecaller]

If you cut some down and put them into a big tub of water you can make plant food.

But you'll need a gas mask.