Talkback: 10 uses for nettles

spidea

I like nettles and have found lots more uses for them and made a pamphlet about it at this fairly unpleasant link: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B5J_maf0-xotNDhmYTllM2YtYjljMS00Zjc5LWFjMWUtMjJlY2FkZjg5NTdj&hl=en

Froginhood

Only query I have on this excellent article is what do you mean by
"the end of each season". I have asked already in 2 places at what stage it is best to cut the nettles down to avoid sacrificing butterflies and ladybirds.
I let a big patch grow in my garden but the "gardener" I paid to tidy it up massacred them. I only have a few left and fear we have destroyed a lot of butterfly eggs. I really need to have a plan for keeping them in check.

Froginhood

shazzza1

hi i have some nettles that grow under some conifers, an it says to grow some plants witch plants could you grow under conifers because some color would be good.

Peat B

Making nettle soup with spuds, is quite superb as a health pick-me-up ! Two weeks of regular quaffing of this stuff makes one into a Nettle 'Souper Man'! I am a confirmed and certificated Hypochondriac, and after a fortnight, I cannot find a thing wrong ! Bloody stuff !

kaycurtis

I live by the railway which is full of nettles, they spill over into me garden but butterflies are so rare now. when I moved here in 1975 the place was buzzing with wild life, birds bees butterflies grasshoppers frogs toads newts grass snakes slow worms even adders in abundance, they are still here, not in the same numbers, I even used to have butterflies overwinter in my house but no more. the fact that the m25 was built through the middle of the village changed the water table and left a never ending scar on the landscape, depriving all these creatures of their natural habitat, sorry but you must blame the government for mindless distruction of our countryside.

vivian allman

can you buy nettle plants?

arwadoo

Nettle liquid feed can be improved in fertility by adding dung or animal urine .

Nettle poultice wad used in old times for headaches

Boliled with turmeric powder

arwadoo

Nettle liquid feed can be made stronger in nutrient content by adding animal casts cow dung and animal urine.

Nettle poultice in turmeric powder and oils was used on damaged tissue and bones on limbs in general and would reduce the swelling and hasten recovery

Nettle was used as a dirty stick by tough teachers in the old times. The blisters were with red mud to recover.

AR

Gary Hobson

vivian allman wrote (see)

can you buy nettle plants?

I'm not aware that you can buy plants, but you can certainly buy seeds, from many stockists of wildflowers.

It may be sold as Stinging Nettle, or under the botanical name, Urtica dioica. Some examples:

http://www.naturescape.co.uk/acatalog/N_-_R_Individual_Species.html

http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/garden-shop/seeds/herbs/n/nettle-common-urtica-dioica/all

http://www.wildflowershop.co.uk/WF%20Indivl%20Seeds/WF%20Seeds%20M%20to%20Z.htm#N
(listed under Nettle)

Ele Nori

many uses are listed here but not all: look http://www.nettletea.net/ you can read that nettles are more then bad weed you can use the nettle for slim too!