Controlling COMFREY

[saljo]

We have just taken on second plot which has large area of unmanaged comfrey that has spread on to our first plot - we want to keep a small section but remove the rest .
Any advice on how to kill comfrey without chemicals would be much appreciated.

[saljo]

[Multiveg]

1 - advertise on freecycle that you have comfrey needing to go to good homes/plots. Though I guess that won't take all of them!

[Trevor_D]

I'd be interested in the answer to this one. I've never managed to kill any! (It's certainly no good trying to dig it out, because the roots go down for ever!) I'm trying a thick plastic membrane on one of my beds; let's see if that works.

[franklynn]

Can you send me some please????

[flowerlady]

 ;D Use it !! :D

3 -4 times a year I give mine  the haircut of it's life ... I use it for liquid plant food, mulch, to put into the bottom of trenches, top dress spuds and tomatoes, in fact anything that I think would benefit from it!!

I have a word doc I'd be happy to send you but would need to email it  ;D

[saljo]

Flower lady -  Thanks for your response. I agree, comfrey is brilliant in many ways. We will be keeping and using some of it but the comfrey we have adopted has been unmanaged for many years and taking over large areas and the  roots go far too deep to dig out.

[flowerlady]

I can appreciate what you say about the roots ... i had to dig a 2ft hole to get the plants out so I could move them to where I wanted them !!

Having said that ... the roots are the reason that comfrey is so good for your plot ... they find and collect all the goodies that are too low down for normal root systems ... hence using the leaves for lottie use ...

I eventually planted mine in a row ... just behind where a compost bin used to be, before it disintergrated!!  ::) ;D  the roots are now sucking up thoses goodies that sank beneather it!  :D

If you are able to get about a foot down on the big roots to cut them off I would presume that eventually it will give up growing  ???

... I will keep searching!  ;)

[Suzanne]

Flowerlady I agree - if you keep cutting the roots at a spades depth every time the leaves shove their heads above the ssoil - it eventually gives up and grows where you have put it.

I like to let some flower each year - for the bee's as its a good source of pollen when there isn't much else around. I try not to let it set seed though as the stuff I have isn't bocking 14.

[Eristic]

I grow comfrey purely for the bees benefit. Anyone who thinks a bit of comfrey will satisfy your plants fertilizer requirements has been too long in the kingdom of cuckoos. Horse manure compared to dry comfrey has similar fertilizer ingredients and percentages BUT, where does anyone get 12 ton of dried comfrey leaves each year?

[Twirlie]

My Godfather makes an oil with comfrey for sprains, breaks and pulled muscles, it's other name being knitbone.  See if you know anyone into herbal remedies, they may take some of you.  It doesn't smell too pretty but it does the trick, I was a professional dancer and rarely used anything else, it speeds up recovery time a treat.  My fellow dancers in the dressing room always new if I had an injury!!!!!!!!!!  Never did like the smell of ralgex anyway!
Twirlie

[franklynn]

Typical, you spend ages looking for some comfrey roots, then you get some off ebay then everyone wants to give them away!!