Stinging nettle is a plant that can irritate skin.
Here’s how to get rid of this unpleasant weed safely.
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Stinging nettle(Urtica dioica)lives up to its name.
Credit:Jevtic / Getty Images
Brush against the pesky plant, and youll instantly know youve encountered it.
A run-in with stinging nettle leaves skin red and fiercely itchy.
Occasionally, blisters form, and the irritation can last for several hours.
Credit: Denny Schrock
Growing everywhere from cold, snowy regions to tropical zones, stinging nettle is prevalent across North America.
If it isnt in your landscape now, it could easily appear in the future.
What Is Stinging Nettle?
The sting of stinging nettle comes from minuscule, needle-like hairs on the leaves of this tough perennial plant.
The hairs penetrate the skin as soon as you brush against it.
In natural areas, stinging nettle is most prevalent in moist sites.
Youll find it growing along streams, in meadows, and in ditches.
It quickly invades disturbed areas, making a home anywhere that has deep, rich, moist soil.
Stinging nettle spreads by rhizomes and seeds.
Rhizomes are underground shoots that creep out from the mother plant, creating colonies.
In the wild, noxious stinging nettle is known to create colonies covering an acre or more of earth.
Stinging nettle has small green and white flowers in spring and summer.
The insignificant flowers form copious amounts of seeds that fully ripen in fall.
Stinging nettles seeds are distributed by wind, birds, and animals.
Prevent the seeds from fully ripening to slow the plants' spread.
Here are 5 ways to eliminate stinging nettle, along with suggestions for when to use them.
Mow
Mowing weakens stinging nettle by decreasing leaf mass and limiting root growth.
It also eliminates spread by seed.
In addition, promote strong growth of nearby plants so they can contribute to crowding out the stinging nettle.
Best suited for single invaders or small colonies of stinging nettle, hand-pulling is just what it sounds like.
Pull slowly and gently to remove as many roots and rhizomes as possible.
Be ready to repeat hand-pulling in the infested area every couple of weeks for at least one growing season.
Then use them like you would use othertypes of cooked greensin soups, stews, and even pesto.
Cultivate
It is possible to get rid of a patch of stinging nettle by repeated cultivation.
Spot Spray
Glyphosate-basedweed killer can eradicatestinging nettle.
Spot spray each plant, being careful not to allow the spray to drift to nearby plants.
Glyphosate kills anything it contacts.
Spray on a calm day, applying the chemical directly to dry foliage and following all label directions.
Treated plants will wilt within 48 hours and wither to the ground within a few days.
After two weeks, revisit the area to ensure all the stinging nettle plants were killed.
A healthy lawn will quickly crowd out stinging nettle.Promote good drainageand healthy soil byaerating the lawn.
Take a soil test andimplement a fertilizer planas indicated by the test.
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2022 Jun 22;8(6):e09717.
PMID: 35800714; PMCID: PMC9253158.
