Design and Manage with Nettles for butterflies

[PhilBJohnson]

21st January 2021 -"Nettle Island"
In recent years, with increased urbanisation, a challenge was to design and manage a space, which not only included nettles, but was so well designed and managed, it was like telling the butterflies where to go and lay eggs.
Some UK Butterfly species that used or had an evolved dependency for nettles:
Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Painted Lady
Nettle Bed or Nettle Patch?
As it was going to be well looked after and possibly raised, lets call it a "Nettle Bed"
Nettles in full, direct sunlight warmth, were considered best, for at least one species. A wet nettle patch in hot dry weather, was considered more attractive for ovipositors, in comparison to it's surroundings.
How big does a nettle bed need to be? (square metres).
A raised bed might be considered to contain plants, that might have spread to be weeds in another part of ones garden.
It was considered that some butterfly species might not find a single isolated plant attractive for their batch deposit of eggs.
Nitrogen rich soil was thought to be the best, producing big, lush plants, with big leaves for batch ovipositors.
At this point in winter, it wasn't recommended, to be timid. Fields of nettles had been seen, with unsuitable growth, to be very attractive for butterflies.
A nettle bed weeded and fed in January or February with 50L bags of well rotted manure, was considered a suitable investment for over-wintering butterflies like Peacock & Small Tortoiseshell, to find attractive in the Spring.
Stinging Nettles
If wanting to keep children away from being stung, consider appropriate fencing and possibly even a sign for foreign visitors that might not have encountered nettles before.

Kind Regards