• Soil, Planting, and Care
• Troubleshooting
• Harvest and Storage

In the Garden

Dead nettle is grown for its silvery leaves with green edges.

Dead nettle brightens the forest floor in a shady, woodland garden.

It is a mystery how such a charming plant came to have such a dreadful name. Dead nettle neither appears dead nor has spines to warrant calling it a nettle. Dead nettle (Lamium maculatum) grows into a mat of metallic silver leaves with a green edge. Pink flowers create a seasonal display from late spring to midsummer, but it’s the foliage that endears it to gardeners. With its preference for shade and its low-growing spreading habit, it brings a spot of light to dimly lit beds. It is useful on the front edge of beds or simply as a mass planting of silver ground cover. It is also an excellent choice for containers and even hanging baskets, where the silver leaves fall over the edge of the pot.

Planting and Care

Plant dead nettle in early spring. Plants are not too cold sensitive, so you can usually plant before the last frost without worry. Dead nettle needs shade to partial shade. It is a low, spreading ground cover, but it is not rampant by any means. However, stems will root down, helping the planting enlarge. While dead nettle may seem quite tame the first season, growth is more vigorous during the second. Plant it where it has moist, light, well-drained soil. In warmer areas, it actually performs better in dry shade than wet. It is evergreen in the southernmost portions of its range, but it dies down for the winter elsewhere, re-emerging in the spring alongside hostas and deciduous ferns.

You can shear the plants if the planting starts looking too open. Cutting it back keeps the it compact, especially in containers in areas with a long growing season.

Troubleshooting

Cut out any ragged growth that may develop during a hot summer or very wet season.