Spring Wild Herbs: Wild Garlic, Nettle, Ground Elder
Spring is the best time for wild herbs: the plants are young, tender and especially nutrient-rich – long before the home garden has anything to offer.
The most important spring wild herbs
Wild garlic (Allium ursinum) – grows in moist deciduous forests and smells distinctly of garlic. Important: wild garlic has poisonous look-alikes that do not smell of garlic – lily-of-the-valley leaves and above all autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale). It contains colchicine and, according to the Bonn Poison Centre, is very poisonous – poisoning can lead to shock and circulatory failure. There is also cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum), whose leaves are spear- to arrow-shaped and often spotted according to the Bonn Poison Centre – wild garlic has parallel veins according to AGES. One feature of wild garlic: according to AGES, each leaf emerges singly from the ground on a distinct, thin stalk. The smell test on its own is not enough, because after the first wild garlic leaf your fingers keep smelling of garlic: check every leaf separately, with clean fingers, and always several features together.
Stinging nettle – rich in iron and vitamin C. Harvest young shoot tips before flowering, then use as a vegetable, soup or pesto.
Ground elder – a stubborn garden weed, but an excellent wild vegetable with a flavor somewhere between carrot and parsley. One caution: it belongs to the carrot family, which also includes fool's parsley and poison hemlock – both toxic, both growing in the same kinds of places. Ground elder follows the rule of three: a triangular leaf stalk, a leaf in three parts, three leaflets per part, plus the spicy scent when rubbed. If one of those doesn't fit, leave the plant standing.
What to look for when identifying
- Always pick individual leaves and rub them with clean fingers – smell alone is never enough, several features have to match
- If unsure: leave it standing
- Use an up-to-date field guide with photos
Harvesting sustainably
Only collect from unsprayed locations. Never take more than a third of a stand, so it can regenerate.
Gathering: what German nature conservation law allows
Anyone may carefully take wild herbs, flowers and fruits in small quantities for personal use from places not subject to an access ban (Section 39(3) BNatSchG). Protected areas often have stricter bans, and specially protected species have their own rules.
Sources
- Poison Information Centre NRW / Bonn: Herbstzeitlose, accessed 5 Oct 2026
- Poison Information Centre NRW / Bonn: Gefleckter Aronstab, accessed 5 Oct 2026
- Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES): Bärlauch, accessed 5 Oct 2026
- Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG): § 39, accessed 5 Oct 2026
The sources support individual statements in this article. The organisations named have neither reviewed nor endorsed it.