Comfrey is the common name given to a genus of about 30 species of bristly perennials found in damp, shady habitats.
The use of comfrey has been researched in this country since the early 1900s as an organic alternative to fertilizer. It is known to encourage those useful bacteria in your compost heap and ‘comfrey tea’, made by rotting down leaves in water for 4-5 weeks, makes a great alternative to liquid fertilizer too!
The ‘old’ name for comfrey is knitbone as it was used to help broken or weak bones among other ailments.
18 May, 2008
It isn't a thug like the other one I have that was everywhere in the garden when we came here. I dug out 12 barrowloads from my wide border last summer to plant up with Heleniums and other bright tall plants! I still have to be on the lookout for little plants - a bit like bindweed, if you miss a bit of root, up it comes!
On photo - Symphytum caucasicum
17 May, 2008
it looks very similar to Mertensia in the shape and colour of the flower but on a larger scale....I just love blue flowers...
On photo - Symphytum caucasicum
9 May, 2008
Nice close up.! If it's the plant I'm thinking of, I like the way the buds open pink and then turn blue, once they have been pollinated by a bee.
On photo - Symphytum caucasicum
21 Feb, 2008
Yes Spritz, forgot the hairs - always wear gloves. Mine is like yours, Treesandthings, but my flowers are pale yellow with brownish tips. I think it is a type of Russian comfrey. The best type of comfrey to grow with intent is Bocking14, which is sterile so doesn't self-seed. Simply soaking the leaves in a bin or barrel takes 3 - 6 weeks, and produces a definite sewer-like odour. I did it the first time I tried making the liquid feed and spent hours seiving the leaves out. I have since read a handy hint. Tie the
leaves inside a hessian sack before putting into the water - as easy as
making a cup of tea with a teabag! Get that clump of yours into a tub, tho, asap!
On photo - comfry
21 Feb, 2008
This plant is a MENACE in my garden - Why our predecessors planted it everywhere I really do not understand. I have tried to get rid of it in most areas, but you only have to miss a small piece of root and up it pops, it also seeds itself. It also has nasty kind of bristly leaves that leave prickles in your hands if you touch them. I dug up 12 barrow loads last summer to plant more interesting and well-behaved plants! I'm glad yours is under control, David! Watch yours, Treesand things, don't let it take over your garden, useful though it may be. P.S. I did compost the leaves, I cut them off the stems!
On photo - comfry
21 Feb, 2008
Thanks Dave, I will definately give this a go and let you all know how I get on.
On photo - comfry
21 Feb, 2008
Hi, I use it, as do some other members, but there is a bit more to it than that. You'd have to let it soak for a long time. I use another method I read about and saw on TV. A large plastic bottle, with the base removed, is fixed, upside down with cap left off , to a fence post using a large clip such as a plastic waste pipe clip. The bottle is packed with dry comfrey leaves, and something heavy (such as another, slimmer bottle filled with water,a stone, or even 1 or 2 quarter bricks if you use a large bottle) placed as a press on top of the leaves. The weight gradually squeezes the sap from the leaves, and the brown fluid drips into another bottle (small) stood underneath. This fluid is diluted further in water and used as a root or foliar feed. My comfrey came with the garden and is low and spreading, like yours. I have contained it in several large containers and have had free plant feed for 7 years now.
On photo - comfry
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Joined 1 Mar, 2008
Buckinghamshire
Xela
16 Jun, 2008
lol, that's why I make mine in Paul's garden, right at the bottom. My excuse is that the comfrey was / is growing in his garden :-D
Are you aware of how rampant comfrey is when it becomes established? Paul is a car enthusiast so a tyre is an appropriate container for the comfrey in his garden
On photo - comfrey