Rhubarb will grow 'better and tastier' if you add 1 natural garden waste item to the soil

Growing rhubarb in your can be very rewarding, but just like , it needs to thrive. Rhubarb is a hardy perennial and needs essential nutrients to grow well and produce tasty stalks. One of the key nutrients rhubarb relies on to thrive is nitrogen. To give rhubarb its fix of nitrogen, gardening expert behind the blog Homegrown Garden, Katrina, claimed nettles are a great option, and has shared how to create a fertiliser from them.

Nettles are known to be "packed with lots of nitrogen" as their deep roots suck up lots of nutrients from the ground. Katrina said: "This makes the liquid fertiliser great for growing better and tastier and vegetables with lots of green leaves like potatoes, and hungry feeders like , pumpkins and squash.

"You can also apply the same method with comfrey leaves - but use this to feed your flowering plants and fruits."

To make nettle fertiliser, put on a pair of gardening gloves and carefully pick your nettles by the stem. You want to keep all of the leaves and stems intact, but no roots. Katrina pointed out: "The younger the nettles, the better, but pick as much as you can."

Once you have gathered a reasonable amount, give the leaves a good bashing or stomp on them to bruise them.

Place the nettles into a deep pot or bucket and put a brick or something heavy on top of the leaves to prevent them from floating around.

Cover the leaves with water (preferably rainwater). You need to leave some air room at the top for the fermenting liquid to froth up.

Cover and leave for about three to four weeks to brew. Katrina warned: "It's going to get smelly, remember, so place it somewhere out of the way."

After around a month, dilute one part fertiliser to 10 parts water to feed your plants.

Gardeners can leave the nettles at the bottom and keep adding water and more nettles throughout the season.

However, if the smell is just too bad, strain the liquid and throw the leftover nettles into the compost bin.