THERE’S A HUMPHREY ABOUT!

I have extolled the virtues of comfrey in the garden before, but whereas most gardeners are familiar with the Russian comfrey, my adoration is for the creeping comfrey (Symphytum grandiflorum), also known as dwarf or ornamental comfrey.

At this time of year I am always reminded of its excellent ground cover skills and ability to attract bees. I was recommending it to a client last week and mentioned that my brother always refers to it as “Humphrey”.

“Oh how sweet”, she replied, “How old is your brother?”

“49,” I replied.

As with any good ground cover, it will need “supervision”. Some people consider it to be a weed as it will cover the ground quickly but as Dad used to say, “A weed is only a plant in the wrong place.” I have used it to cover large areas of flowerbeds and as it is low growing it is great to grow taller plants and/or bulbs through too.

Russian comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) is the most popular type of comfrey for the grower, it’s a hybrid of Symphytum officinale (common comfrey) and Symphytum asperum (rough comfrey) and is also a useful plant. It can be used to create a powerful liquid fertiliser – and chickens love the leaves, which are also a great tonic for them.

It is a member of the borage and forget-me-not family (Boraginaceae) and will happily grow on most soil types, needing little fuss or maintenance. The stems are covered in tiny hairs, which can sometimes irritate the skin so wear gloves when handling or cutting leaves for making “tea”. Comfrey tea is an excellent fertilizer for the garden – not for guests!

Simply add leaves to a container of water and allow them to decompose into a highly nutritious liquid fertiliser. Fill a bucket or barrel with water and add roughly 1kg of cut or bruised leaves to every 15 litres of water, although you don’t have to be too precise. Cover, and after four to six weeks a noxious (very) smelly brown liquid is ready for use.

Or make a concentrate by packing the leaves tightly in a container, like a two litre plastic drinks bottle (good way to recycle), creates a black concentrated liquid which can be stored for up to a year – and it’s not quite so “fragrant”.

Just cut off the bottom of the bottle, pack in the comfrey leaves and stand the bottle upside down in a container. Cover the open end with a polythene bag, held in place with an elastic band, to prevent drying out. Comfrey liquid will drip out of the bottle into the collecting vessel. This concentrate should be watered down according to its strength – when thick and black, dilute one part feed to 20 parts water; and then when thin and brown, dilute again to one to 10. This needn’t be too precise either!