The wild nettle patch on a hillside behind our house suddenly mostly dried up and the tassels have not formed. We have lived here for 20 years and this has never happened before. We live in Montpelier and have had rainy and dry periods this spring and early summer. We are wondering what to do to bring back a great source of nettles.

Hey Cynthia - 

Thanks for your patience with my reply and also thanks for the images! Obviously you treasure your hillside of wild nettle (and for good reason since stinging nettle has so many uses) but it’s a very prolific plant and we get a lot more questions about how to eradicate it than to foster it’s growth! Generally, stinging nettle spreads through seeds and rhizomes and doesn’t need much help to spread, to some it is considered a noxious weed. My assumption would be that something in environment impacted it this year but through seeds and rhizomes you’ll likely see it come back again next year. If you want to ensure you get more next year you could always buy stinging nettle seeds and start some thickets of new growth to get things going! Another option is to get your soil tested to ensure there aren’t some amendments you could make to create a better growing environment. If you choose to get a soil test feel free to reach back out if you need some help interpreting your results!

Some resources to learn more about stinging nettle:
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/urtica-dioica/

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pub/em-9373-wild-edibles-stinging-nettle#growing-nettles

Sharing this “Weed Guide” only to aid in identification: https://weedid.missouri.edu/weedinfo.cfm?weed_id=297