Weed whacking won’t spread seeds if you do it early in the year before the plants flower.

And then do it regularly. Can you post a picture so we’re sure what plant you have? The Stinging Nettle I know likes rich damp soil.

Here are two pictures. I think the seeds begin to show when it's very small, probably one half inch. It will be a big and continuous job for a year or so by which time maybe it will die out. I'm not sure if it is "burning" or "stinging" nettle. I read one has underground tubers which have to be removed along with roots if you are hand pulling, and one doesn't. Hope these pictures aren't too big.

Thank you for letting me know which one it was. I just read it is an annual so it should disappear soon, so maybe an option is to cut it low to the ground and rejoice when it's gone (until next year.) Will that work?

I've been doing a lot of reading about this weed. Here is one of several good articles. You mentioned that my weed, Urtica Urens, Burning Nettle, has rhizomes, but according to this article and others I've read it is the other variety, Stinging Nettles, that has rhizomes.

Nettles

You’re right, I mixed my nettle roots up. If you keep whacking the Burning Nettles they should decline. But you need to repeat it, not just do it once a year. And there will be a seed bank in the soil producing more plants for quite some time. Just because it’s an annual doesn't mean it will disappear soon. It will flower and set seed continuously while the weather is conducive. That could be all year round in a mild climate.

You have chickweed and a wild geranium in the mix too so they all need to be dealt with sooner rather than later or they’ll keep on seeding.

I just had my gardener remove the top half inch of soil where the nettle was very thick, not sure if it was that picture. The soil and nettle went into a bag and will go out with the garbage. Thanks for the reminder the seeds are in the soil. I've dealt with bad weeds in the past and had some luck. I'll enlarge a picture of the seedlings and try and remove them before they get to 1" and have seeds. I just got some good gloves to protect myself from the sting!

At 1” you could just use a sharp hoe on a dry day. I’m sad you removed the soil and threw it out. Given the lush weed growth it was clearly good soil. For annual weeds you really only need to pull or hoe consistently and you’ll get on top of the weeds. If it’s not too late you could compost the weeds and soil rather than getting rid of them. By throwing them out you’re removing fertility from your garden. By composting you retain all the nutrients on your land.

I use a hoe because the stupid things stung me through my gloves! I put cardboard over it once it was cut, then mulch to hide the cardboard. It worked but popped up in the lawn At least it was out of the garden and the lawnmower can take care of it.

I like the idea of cardboard, it sounds much better than landscape fabric. This is an area I haven't planted in for several years because it's almost in full shade and I have more than enough areas to plant in.