7 facts about dead nettle all gardeners must know

If you want to brighten a shady spot with delicate foliage and spring flowers, dead nettle is the happy wanderer for the job. Here's some facts to help you keep and control dead nettle in your garden.

Although famed for its foliage, dead nettle also has beautiful flowers. Here are some popular varieties famous for their different colouring:

• The white flowers of silver-leaved cultivars are spectacular against their variegated leaves.
• 'Beacon Silver,' 'Pink Pewter' and 'Chequers' have pink flowers that create a striking contrast to the foliage.
• If you like yellow blossoms, try 'Herman's Pride' or 'Silver Spangled.' Both tolerate dry soil and are very hardy.

• Springing into action when most spring bulbs are beginning to flag, dead nettle carpets an area as quickly as the bulbs vacate.
• It can't always hide fading bulb foliage from view — dead nettle stands only 30 centimetres (12 inches) high — but it diverts attention with its sparkling demeanour.
• Bright clumps of dead nettle foliage double as a living mulch among more imposing shade plants.
• A fast spreader, dead nettle will eagerly move into any available open space.

• Dead nettle isn't always polite about conquering turf.
• Should the plant move into areas where it isn't wanted, stop its progress by digging out invaders.
• It's easier to correct while the plants are young and roots are shallow, so make adjustments in early summer.

• Aside from a preference for partial shade, dead nettle is an easygoing plant that wants little more than well-drained soil.
• In cool-summer climates, dead nettle will endure full sun gracefully, as long as you keep the soil moist.

• Transplanting is usually best done in the spring. Then the plant will have an entire season to recover.
• Have a weed-free spot ready when planting.
• For a dense carpet, space plants about 25 centimetres (10 inches) apart.
• Plant them as deep as they grew previously, whether in a nursery pot or in the garden.
• Water the transplants well.
• Mulch around them to keep the ground damp until they are established. If you're growing dead nettle under the shelter of high trees, fallen leaves may provide enough mulch.
• Dead nettle really doesn't mind being moved at any time during the growing season.

• Dead nettle is relatively pest-free, but watch out for slugs in moist soil.
• If you should notice ragged holes in the leaves, hand-pick and dispose of slugs at twilight.
• Set shallow saucers of beer on the soil to lure and drown them.

• By the middle of the summer, you might want to tidy up if the leaves become tattered.
• To make the foliage fill in, cut plants back by snipping off about half of the foliage.
• The plants will respond by producing a thick covering of foliage for the rest of the summer, creating a weed-excluding mat.

Dead nettle quickly covers the ground in beautiful foliage, which can add texture to almost any garden. To help it thrive, all you have to do is plant it in the right spot and keep an eye on its growth.