Many common garden butterflies, such as the Red Admiral, Comma and Small Tortoiseshell, lay eggs on stinging nettles, but other butterflies breed on more garden-worthy plants.
When should you not pick nettles?
Nettles are best when very tender, so pick them in the spring when the nettles are just coming up or later in the season when they’re growing well, but before they are flowering. Use rubber gloves or pinch the leaves hard, so you don’t get stung. Pick the young leaves from the tips.
How do stinging nettles reproduce?
Nettles can reproduce themselves from seed and rhizomes that form underground stems that extend out and grow, producing new shoots, enabling the nettle plants to spread.
What plants do butterflies lay their eggs on UK?
The Wildlife Garden contains small meadow areas, ideal habitat for certain British butterfly species providing both nectar plants, such as oxeye daisies and knapweed, and grasses including cock’s-foot and fescues for meadow brown, large, small and Essex skippers to lay their eggs on.
Do Aphids eat nettles?
Aphids enjoy the shelter of nettle plants, and some gardeners and farmers will plant nettles near other cultivated plants to keep the insects away from their crops. This symbiotic relationship is further fed by the aphids luring other insects that like to eat them, resulting in fewer insects in your vegetable garden.
What animals eat nettles?
Stinging nettles are great for wildlife
Peacock, red admiral, small tortoiseshell, comma and painted lady butterflies all have caterpillars whose only, or main, source of food is the nettle.
Do nettles still sting when cut down?
Stinging nettle has a similar flavor to spinach and can be used as a direct substitute for any recipe calling for spinach. And don’t worry – once the leaves have been cooked, crushed or dried they lose their sting.
What grows next to stinging nettle?
jewelweed
Remedies for this sting include a plant that often grows next to it called jewelweed. Applying the crushed stem of this plant to the affected area soothes the irritated skin.
How do you permanently get rid of stinging nettles?
The only way to get rid of stinging nettles permanently is to remove the whole of the root. Leave a minute piece of root in the soil and that’s enough for the nettles to regrow.
Do nettles spread?
Although nettles produce prodigious amounts of seed, their most reliable means of spread is by rhizomes. Rhizome fragments are readily spread by soil disturbances such as plowing, ditch cleaning and construction.
What time of year do butterflies lay eggs on nettles?
Frequent visitors to nettle patches are the Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Comma butterflies. The eggs and larvae of these butterfly species are present on nettles between April and June, with adults emerging between May and October.
What butterflies lay their eggs on stinging nettles?
The Peacock butterfly lays its eggs in batches on the leaves of Stinging Nettles. The caterpillars have also been observed feeding on hop leaves and will do so in captivity.
Which butterflies breed on nettles?
Small tortoiseshell, red admiral and peacock butterflies do all lay their eggs on nettles and the caterpillars therefore eat the leaves, plus comma and painted lady will sometimes use them although they have other preferences – comma prefers hops and painted lady, thistles.
Are stinging nettles good for the garden?
Because it’s rich in nitrogen, this is particularly useful for leafy vegetables like kale, chard and spinach. You can also cut nettles to lay, as they are, around larger plants or shrubby fruits, where they will serve as a valuable mulch. Their high nitrogen content also makes them a natural compost activator.
Do bees like stinging nettles?
The dead nettle has bright orange pollen which give the foraging bees an orange stripe on thier heads. This weed is particularly useful to them as that pollen may be in short supply if there are few flowering trees in your area.
Does lavender repel aphids?
The most effective type of essential oil at keeping aphids away is lavender oil. Lavender oil comes from an herb known as Lavandula and it’s the aroma of the herb that keeps the aphids away. Lavender grows best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 5.
What animals eat nettle leaves?
Despite the fibrous stem of the plants, this food source is also easily digested by pigs, rabbits and poultry. The nettle’s nutritional value rivals that of clover, a popular food for livestock.
What is eating my nettles?
Stinging nettles are great wildlife attractors: caterpillars of the small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies use them as foodplants; ladybirds feast on the aphids that shelter among them; and seed-eating birds enjoy their autumn spoils.
Why do dogs eat stinging nettles?
Not only will nettles help with reducing allergies, but due to their anti-inflammatory nature, they have can also help with the pain of arthritis. To treat your dog for allergies, simply add 1/2 tsp. of dried leaf per cup to their food daily during allergy season. You can do this all year long.
How long do nettles last?
Nettle stings can be itchy and you may feel a stinging or burning sensation. This will usually settle down within a few minutes or a few days and you can often treat them yourself. They may cause a raised area nettle rash on the skin.
Do nettles sting dogs?
Nettles can sting dogs’ paws leading to intense itching and chewing. Avoid walking through nettles. Again, this would be a time to use an antihistamine recommended by your vet. Some paw waxes might reduce stinging and soothe afterwards.
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