Isn't comfrey amazing!

emiff6

I posted this post in June last year (2011):

Isn't comfrey amazing stuff? I was out for a walk and spotted a large clump of comfrey growing on the verge. Managed to break off a stalk, pulled the top off as it was in bud, pulled off the leaves, and put the resulting 8" stalk in my pocket to bring home.

Shoved it in some John Innes in a pint yoghurt pot, and 3 weeks later, presto! shoots and roots! :j



I've repotted it today, and when it's roots get to the bottom of this pot, (shhh...) I'm going to do a bit of guerilla gardening and plant it among the horseradish on the verges outside the village



In September I "released" the cutting into the weed filled verge around the village playing field, agaisnt some damson trees (much closer to home than the original plant, so I can 'harvest' it for compost etc.

Here's what it looks like today, May 2012:



It's nearly finished flowering, and is taller than the nettles around it. Not bad, considering I just tipped it out of the pot and trod its roots down among the other weeds. No hole dug, no watering. Amazing stuff!

savemepennies

And very useful too making your own liquid feed and nettles good for that too I will try it first time as just found this method a few days ago on the seed parade blog

jules-2005

I'm trying to eradicate it from my garden. Its a long slow process, just when you think you're on top of it .... it starts growing somewhere else

Davesnave

jules-2005 wrote: »

I'm trying to eradicate it from my garden. Its a long slow process, just when you think you're on top of it .... it starts growing somewhere else

Whoever planted it should have got the variety Bocking 14, as that doesn't set seed. It was developed specifically for garden use.

My plants are being used to stabilise a bank below our polytunnel and also to provide a ready supply of liquid feed. Tests I did last year, pitting some comfrey against other weeds gave this result:

Comfrey 10 Other weeds 0

so they are pretty good for seeing off other nasties when planted close together.

If, like the OP, I only had ordinary comfrey plants, then I'd either plant them on some available ground nearby and not in the garden, or I'd make sure they didn't set seed.

Davesnave

savemepennies wrote: »

And very useful too making your own liquid feed and nettles good for that too I will try it first time as just found this method a few days ago on the seed parade blog

You haven't smelled it yet, mind!

(Also very useful if you have noisy neighbours who sit outside till silly o'clock in this warm weather, boozing, shouting and keeping your kids awake. One good stir of the vat is all it takes....:rotfl:)

dogstarheaven

Davesnave wrote: »

Whoever planted it should have got the variety Bocking 14, as that doesn't set seed. It was developed specifically for garden use.

My plants are being used to stabilise a bank below our polytunnel and also to provide a ready supply of liquid feed. Tests I did last year, pitting some comfrey against other weeds gave this result:

Comfrey 10 Other weeds 0

so they are pretty good for seeing off other nasties when planted close together.

If, like the OP, I only had ordinary comfrey plants, then I'd either plant them on some available ground nearby and not in the garden, or I'd make sure they didn't set seed.

i've got the B14 strain and is remarkably easy to look after. i grew mine from about 30 root pieces to fill a dedicated 10ft x 5ft bed last feb. when i first got my lotti and made sure i didn't let it go to flower as it was it's first yr. this year, they're really big clumps with taproots.. i've managed to divide a couple in hope to sell at the site to recoup some of my spending costs on plants etc.,

davesnave: can you tell me whether it'll ward off Jap. Knotweed? i've got that mainly coming from the boundary fence. unfortunately, i had to use Roundup on them recently as I can't keep digging these up. they're everywhere!

Davesnave

dogstarheaven wrote: »

davesnave: can you tell me whether it'll ward off Jap. Knotweed? i've got that mainly coming from the boundary fence. unfortunately, i had to use Roundup on them recently as I can't keep digging these up. they're everywhere!

No. Japanese knotweed is a whole different ball game. It's a plant which can even affect the mortgageability of your house, so if you have some coming across a boundary, it's time to get heavy with the land owner.

Sorry, but JK on your property, or even close by, is bad news.
http://www.devon.gov.uk/japanese_knotweed.htm

nonnatus

AND Comfrey flowers, made into a tea, are a POWERFUL kidney de-toxifier. But they are REALLY strong so take advice before you go round brewing cups full of it!!

dogstarheaven

Davesnave wrote: »

No. Japanese knotweed is a whole different ball game. It's a plant which can even affect the mortgageability of your house, so if you have some coming across a boundary, it's time to get heavy with the land owner.

Sorry, but JK on your property, or even close by, is bad news.
http://www.devon.gov.uk/japanese_knotweed.htm

well, felt v angry by the allotment office when they didn't bother telling me that JK was on my plot when i spent a whole week of clearing the top growth of bramble on a full plot that wasn't cultivated for at least 3/4yrs. they used Glysophate but it's still there in odd places but as my beds are prepared, it's hard to control it completely. last yr (took it on in feb.), i managed to get harvests and whenever the red shoots come up (right now as we speak) i just pull them up/dig them out.

dogstarheaven

nonnatus wrote: »

AND Comfrey flowers, made into a tea, are a POWERFUL kidney de-toxifier. But they are REALLY strong so take advice before you go round brewing cups full of it!!

heard that you can't take too much of this on a regular basis for curing/helping a health condition...

Davesnave

dogstarheaven wrote: »

heard that you can't take too much of this on a regular basis for curing/helping a health condition...

Did you mean can?

http://www.ehow.co.uk/list_12233880_comfrey-root-warnings.html