Behind the natural and distinctive appearance of a golden nettle lies a wild perennial with vehement growth power. If you give the golden-yellow deadnettle species a free hand, it will even put the gopher in its place. The following answers to frequently asked questions provide what you should pay attention to when cultivating this wild perennial.
What characterizes the golden nettle in the garden?
The golden nettle is a hardy wild perennial that is ideal for greening shady areas. It is characterized by its vigorous, golden-yellow flowers and also impresses as a bee pasture and medicinal plant in scented and wild herb gardens.
Planting golden nettle correctly
If you pay attention to the following planting process, a golden nettle meets all the expectations of an ornamental and useful plant. With a simple gardening trick you can regulate the spirited urge to spread in the desired direction. Here's how to do it:
- In a semi-shady, shady location in humus-moist soil, create planting holes at a distance of 40-50 cm
- Mix sifted compost and horn shavings into the excavation
- Line the edge of each planting pit with a geotextile root barrier (€36.00 on Amazon)
- Unpot the water-soaked root ball, plant in the middle and water
You can alternatively keep the growth of the vital runners under control by planting the individual young plants in a pot without soil.
Care tips
A golden nettle shows its busy growth without much intervention from the gardener. The manageable care program revolves around the following aspects:
- Keep soil and potting substrate constantly moist
- Fertilize every 4 weeks from March to September
- If necessary, cut off the withered flower whorls in autumn
- Pruning the wintergreen leaves close to the ground in early spring
The golden nettle only requires winter protection in the pot and flower box. To prevent the root ball from freezing, cover the container with insulating material and place it on Styrofoam or wood. It is important to ensure a consistent water supply, as the wintergreen leaves constantly evaporate water.
Which location is suitable?
As an ornamental plant, the golden nettle is at your side when you need to add decorative greenery to problematic areas. In semi-shady to shady locations in the natural garden, in the cottage garden and under trees, the perennial creates pretty yellow splashes of color. In addition, the flower likes fresh, moist to sandy-loamy soil, rich in nutrients and deeply humus.
What soil does the plant need?
In the wild, the golden nettle often acts as a pioneer plant to conquer previously ungreened areas. This property means that the perennial gets along well with normal garden soil as long as the soil is not desert-dry. Likewise, as a container plant, it is completely satisfied with standard compost-based potting soil.
When is flowering time?
The delicate yellow to golden yellow labial flowers bloom from May until well into July. If you take a closer look at a flower, the delicate, three-lobed lower lip is marked reddish. While pure wild species have 5-8 flowers per whorl, the hybrids boast 8-16 flowers.read more
Cut golden nettle correctly
Since the wintergreen, decoratively sawn leaves fill the otherwise empty garden with green life, creative gardeners leave the golden nettle undisturbed until February. At that point at the latest, the plant will pull in the leaves anyway, so pruning now creates space for the fresh shoots. If self-sowing is not desired, cut off the withered flower whorls before the seeds ripen in autumn.
Water gold nettle
The native perennial is satisfied with the average amount of rain for its water supply. The watering can is only used when it is dry for a long time. In pot culture, however, the substrate dries out quickly in summer, so regular water is required.
Fertilize golden nettle properly
If the gardener makes his rounds through the garden with a wheelbarrow full of compost, the golden nettle is happy to receive a portion. The golden-yellow dead nettle is often given a sip of nettle manure during the growing season. In the limited substrate volume of the pot, the nutrient reserves are used up within 6-8 weeks after planting, so a liquid fertilizer fills the gaps every 4 weeks until the beginning of autumn.
Wintering
The golden nettle wears its foliage throughout the winter because the perennial is completely hardy. It is only from January/February that the worn-out leaves gradually retreat, so that cutting back close to the ground now makes sense. Horticultural support for he althy wintering is therefore only required in the planter, due to the exposed position of the root ball behind the thin container walls. Wrap the pot or flower box in bubble wrap, garden fleece or jute and place the container on wood or Styrofoam. Because the leaves continue to evaporate moisture, water on mild days during winter droughts.
Propagate golden nettle
The overconfident urge to spread a golden nettle gives hobby gardeners several options for targeted propagation. Common methods are:
- Cut off root runners to allow them to root in the pot in lean substrate
- Division of the rootstock in early spring or autumn
- Cut cuttings during flowering and grow into adult plants in the nursery pot
Compared to these 3 methods, sowing golden nettle proves to be more demanding and time-consuming. Since the seeds are cold germinators, a cold stimulus is required to break the germination inhibition. After 2-4 weeks at 18-22 degrees Celsius, 4-6 weeks at – 4 to + 4 degrees Celsius, followed by 2 weeks at 5-12 degrees. Only then does the classic sowing procedure begin.
Is golden nettle poisonous?
The golden nettle is full of valuable ingredients. Essential oils, vitamins, minerals and numerous trace elements allow the wild perennial to mature into a rich food and medicinal plant. Even the dreaded stinging hairs of the widely related nettle are missing on a golden nettle. This means that this species of dead nettle poses no danger to humans or animals.
How can I use the golden nettle?
The golden nettle has a we alth of beneficial attributes that clever gardeners know how to use. We have put together some interesting possible uses for you here:
- As a rustic ornamental plant with wild perennial character
- Spreads an intoxicating aroma in the scent garden
- Popular bee and butterfly pasture
- Honey-filled flowers as a delicious snack for children
- Prepared as a tea with healing properties for bladder and kidney diseases
The leaves have the highest content of valuable ingredients shortly before flowering. At this time the taste is particularly delicate, while after flowering it takes on a bitter aroma.read more
Beautiful varieties
- Florentium: The golden-yellow flowers over silvery foliage create a picturesque look
- Hermann’s Pride: Small in growth, powerful in the greening of shady locations; a native ground cover
- Silver carpet: The weak-growing golden nettle likes to act as a ground cover in beds with little light
- Pale yellow golden nettle: The light yellow flowers are slightly reddish; Growth height up to 60 cm without runners
- Mountain Golden Nettle: Robust, very vigorous species that can be found in the Alps up to 1,500 m
