By Hayleydee
United Kingdom 
Moving to rented property. Garden completely overgrown mainly with nettles 6 foot tall. Cannot see any grass. Garden is the size of a small football pitch.
I believe the garden was cleared with diggers approx 24 months ago in view of property development which fell through.
I have a toddler and would like a safe place for him to play aiming for next spring/summer.
I started in this May cutting down a small area of nettles close to the house and dug up the roots. However moving got delayed and this has now totally grown back. Really disheartened after knowing how much work this took.
Am I best to hire equipment such as a rotavator? What time of year shall I start? If I clear a space what do I do with the mass of nettles left behind will they spread to the improved area.
There's no way I can do the whole garden and as it's rented do not wish to invest lots of money. Just want the nettles gone and some grass by next summer.
31 Oct, 2016
Answers
And a rotovator will just spread and multiply the roots.
31 Oct, 2016
Can't see you doing this unaided in time to sow grass for next spring - for a toddler to play on it you'd be sowing grass seed now. I would cut down and cover a suitably sized area with old carpet or something (try Freecycle) to exclude all the light and allow the toddler to play on that. At the same time it will be killing the nettles but this can take up to a year. Then you can cut down and dig up the rest at your leisure. Far from ideal but at least possible.
31 Oct, 2016
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Unfortunately the nettles will spread back if you just clear a patch. I think your best bet might be to wait until growth re-starts in spring, then spray with glyphosate weedkiller. Then dig over and remove as many of the tough yellow roots as possible, rake level and sow grass seed. Once the grass has grown the nettles can be controlled by regular mowing. It's a long job and there's no easy answer!
31 Oct, 2016