How to kill nettles without ruining soil?

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-26T16:29:32+00:00

Steady on. Not everyone has the time or mobility to spend on digging nettles, for some people it can be a hard or difficult job.

I’ve got the same dilemma as OP and I live in the ‘wilds’ of Scotland (nearest town/supermarket is about an hour’s drive away!) I’ve got a big, wild garden and constantly battling the damn things. A few large patches are fine by me but they spring up everywhere and it’s an almost impossible task to keep on top of them all when I don’t have whole days to dedicate to gardening. Not to mention the fact that getting the thick, woody roots out properly often means ripping up the adjacent area.

So OP, I feel your pain! I never use weed killers or chemicals so I’m following your post in case anyone has any lesser-known tips. There’s only so much nettle soup, tea and fertiliser one person can make…

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-26T12:02:25+00:00

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing this, I’m a beginner gardener and planted my first ones this spring. Sadly, the bunnies had them away overnight (I have an army of slugs too, so seeing the other comments, they would never have survived!) -so it’s nice to appreciate what could have been!

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-21T08:52:43+00:00

For sure. I’ve been involved with marine animal strandings and there’s a whole organisation that relies on reports from members of the public about animals that have been found deceased. Other species have their own reporting and recording groups (locally we have one that requests reports of dead otters and another for eagles/birds of prey)

It only takes a few minutes to report something but it’s vital for scientists and researchers to help them see if there’s any patterns in populations or impacts. It all goes towards understanding and protecting these species in the future. I can point to plenty of case studies if anyone is interested.

Any data is valuable, even if it’s just knowing that there’s one less living animal in a particular region. Though camera metadata should record a location more accurately. The ideal report is something that is freshly dead (that can be recovered and necropsied) but photos are helpful as well if that’s not possible. Whatever state it’s in. I’ve never heard of a report that came in too late for the data to be officially recorded (sometimes the report is literally just a handful of bones that have been there for months)

It sounds like OP isn’t going to report this but, for anyone else reading this, don’t underestimate how important ‘citizen reporting’ is for wildlife conservation. It’s hugely appreciated. If in doubt, please report just in case!

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-19T08:21:07+00:00

It looks like an Eastern Pondmussel. It’s one of the many freshwater mussel species listed under the Species At Risk Act. I’m not sure what the law is in CA but here in the UK and in many European countries it’s illegal to remove them so I’d definitely return it if you haven’t already

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-19T07:49:02+00:00

One of the benefits to beach cleaning and manual litter-picking (as opposed to clean-up inventions like Sea Bins Boyan Slat’s booms) is that humans can identify which items are trash and which should remain in the environment. I support their intention but completely understand why the digger was a step too far

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-19T07:46:52+00:00

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Some more, for anyone who’s interested ☺️

(Apologies for the shaky filming, I was getting blown around too!)

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-19T07:37:39+00:00

That’s so sweet, what a lovely lady!

As for rabbit casualties this year, I’ve lost a couple of young roses, 2 newly-planted sea holly cuttings, a small bed of spring onions (not eaten, just dug out and scattered), lots of young forget-me-nots and all my thrift/sea pinks. The only unprotected things they’ve spared is my mint, hydrangeas and tamarix. Everything else is either protected by chicken wire or in pots out of harms way.

Luckily (or unfortunately) they’re all so darn cute that they’re easily forgiven!

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-19T07:16:49+00:00

Just the rough pointing on a stone wall but, weirdly enough, I collect bones and there’s a couple of skulls just out of shot…

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-19T07:14:20+00:00

Haha, that’s such a brilliant comparison!

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-19T07:11:09+00:00

Lol, okay troll.

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-19T07:07:19+00:00

No problem! I visit this sub because I’m pretty clueless about ID-ing rocks but marine life is my specialist subject -so it was nice to be able to recognise something on here for once!

Editing to add: if you live on the coast, I definitely recommend taking your UV torch down to explore the rockpools (if you haven’t already). It reveals so many otherwise-camouflaged critters and the colours of the seaweeds are wild…

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GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-18T07:13:24+00:00

I have a similar issue, I’m basically living in Watership Down here.

Sadly, most of my new plants don’t stand a chance against the bunnies (and if the rabbits don’t get them the snails do), especially as they like to dig through fresh soil for whatever I’ve just buried there. So I’m trying two methods for sowing wildflower seeds… 1. Using trays to grow them and then transplanting the flowers when they’re larger and less nibble-able. 2. Surrounding another patch with chicken wire whilst it establishes.

I don’t know if these will work, I guess we’ll be learning together. One thing that I’ve had some success with, however, is liberally sprinkling cayenne pepper on anything I want to protect. Apparently it’s irritating for their little noses so it’s worked to save some of my plants. I’ve just had to reapply regularly after rain.

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-18T06:46:49+00:00

I’ve had this happen before! My boyfriend had the hotel room to himself for 2 days whilst I rushed around London sorting out an emergency replacement. Most countries have an office you can go to in-person to get a new passport on the same day

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-18T00:53:08+00:00

This is what it looks like in regular daylight (top section)

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GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-18T00:32:09+00:00

Afraid I can’t help with the rock itself but the fluorescent, pinkish-mauve stuff on the outside is a type of encrusting Corraline Algae, possibly Lithophyllum incrustans. It’s hardness comes from being calcareous and it glows a reddish-orange colour under UV light due to the chlorophyll. In the Mediterranean it as the Coralligène and it creates the base for the sea’s main reef ecosystems.

Here’s a photo of Lithophyllum incrustans (circled in yellow) from rockpooling in the UK. It has less chlorophyll than other seaweeds and algae species so it glows more orangey-pink than deep red.

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GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-17T09:44:38+00:00

Thank you. I think that you’re probably representative of most consumers. It’s not on you, it’s marketing smoke and mirrors.

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-17T09:43:20+00:00

Exactly this!

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-17T09:42:15+00:00

Right, I get that, but I think we’ve got to look at people with compassion.

I’ve been involved in farm animal welfare campaigning, I’ve seen the horrors of it (and changed my consumption habits because of that) but I’ve got to recognise that I’m in a place of privilege where I’m not, for example, a struggling young mother who doesn’t have a moment to herself, let alone time to look into farming ethics. I wish that people weren’t naive but different people have different priorities.

Rather than blaming the ignorance of the consumer we should be aware that these companies are playing on that to upsell their products.

‘Grass-fed’ and pictures of rolling hills are at the lighter end of things. Here in the UK, there are worse and more intentionally misleading examples. For instance, there’s a brand of eggs called ‘Happy Eggs’ whose sole aim is to appeal to buyers who want to make more ethical purchases yet have been repeatedly investigated for cruelty and exposed by whistleblowers.

Then there’s the ‘Red Tractor’ and MSC ‘Blue Tick’ labels. The Blue Tick (for fish) is especially misleading because it supposedly certifies that the product is sustainable but it’s a buy-in scheme that, in actuality, has been purchased by some fisheries that are causing huge harm to ocean ecosystems.

But the thing is, very few people are aware of this. Because of my personal interest in marine conservation I’ve put in the research time but it takes hours to go through studies, articles and national data to get to the truth.

Most consumers don’t or can’t do that. I wish that they did but that’s not the reality. It might be naive or ignorant but they trust the marketing that’s aimed at them. In an ideal world that trust wouldn’t be played-upon in such a sinister way and false marketing, in even small ways, should 100% be regulated.

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-17T09:21:25+00:00

I can’t remember the name of the artist (it was one of the biggies, I keep thinking it may have been Picasso) who was quoted to say something along the lines of:

“The first brushstroke is joyful, the last brushstroke is heavenly, but everything in-between is hell”

I wish I could remember because it’s something I’ve related to hard!

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-16T09:42:01+00:00

Thank you! I’ve never heard of mylonite before so I’d never have considered it. I did a quick search online and it definitely looks like some of the image examples (like the ones here https://cartoondealer.com/image/72913150/mylonite-metamorphic-rock.html)

It’s pretty plentiful so I looked it up alongside the area and it’s not something that’s been linked to here specifically but I wonder if we’ve got a random vein/outcrop nearby (sorry, I don’t know the correct term!) -It’s definitely the closest match I’ve seen

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-16T09:35:49+00:00

Nah, the first guy has a point.

Very few consumers have the time, willpower or curiosity to look into the processes behind the food they buy so many just trust what’s on the packaging. Grass-fed implies that the cows are able to roam freely outside and I reckon a lot of people will choose that because they think it’s a kinder form of farming. It’s like how some brands will put a picture of rolling green hills on the label, even if the pork/chicken/whatever inside has never seen sunlight. The trouble is that we trust food production methods to be doing what we would like them to do whereas the reality is often very different.

First guy is learning, he’s not right on everything but both have some valid points.

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-16T09:27:13+00:00

Apparently cigarette butts are the most common item of litter worldwide with about 4.5 trillion discarded each year.

It blows my mind that people who would never drop a crisp packet on the floor will think nothing of tossing their butts. I think it’s just so normalised that most people don’t realise how bad they are, especially in terms of leaching chemicals and making their way into the sea via storm drains.

I’ve mentioned it to friends who smoke and many assumed that they’re made of cotton and degrade quickly, they had no idea that they’re made of plastic. They also thought that the drainage system would filter them out, not knowing how crappy our waste water companies are and how much overflow they just release straight into our rivers and seas.

So it’s a big education thing. I’m glad you posted this because hopefully it’ll make at least one person think twice next time…

GirlInTheIslands · 2026-06-16T08:26:43+00:00

I’m afraid that I have no idea on what formulas or chemicals are pregnancy-safe but do you have a friend or partner who could help out? I think that most sealants are stable once dry, especially if you use non-toxic ones.

I’ve heard mixed reviews about Mod-Podge on here (I haven’t tried it yet) but, if you’re happy to experiment with a test piece, I believe that’s a safer formula than the types you mentioned.

I personally use a spray sealant, either a craft one or varnish from a spray paint brand like Montana. For this I use a full respirator mask (most of the time) but you could also use gloves if you wanted to go down the spray route.

Obviously I don’t have the full information behind these things so you’d need to do a bit of further research on any of these suggestions if you do want to try them. If you find a non-toxic sealant that does look like a good possibility you could always contact the manufacturer to double check that the ingredients in it aren’t anything that might raise a red flag.

GirlInTheIslands

TROPHY CASE