Traditionally, comfrey is also used to treat sprains, bruises, burns, coughs, and inflammation. Common names for comfrey are knitbone and boneset, referring to its use in healing broken bones. Comfrey Medicinal Usesīeyond its uses in the garden, comfrey also has medicinal uses. See my full disclaimer for more information. Basically, use common sense, and don’t use any of the plants I talk about on this website medicinally without further research and professional advice. Remember to use caution when using medicinal plants. As it decomposes, it will provide a little extra nutrition to help the plant establish itself. When planting fruit trees or perennials, add a comfrey leaf to the hole before planting. Pick comfrey leaves and use them around perennials as green mulch to protect and feed the soil. Add it to no-till garden beds for a fertility boost. Use chopped comfrey leaves in place of animal manure in your garden. Water plants with this liquid fertilizer (don’t put it on young seedlings-it’s too hot for them). Make comfrey tea by adding shredded comfrey leaves to water and letting it steep for a few days. Add a few comfrey leaves to the compost pile to give it a nitrogen boost and compost faster. But there are some more active things you can do with comfrey in the garden as well. Occasionally take root divisions and chop-and-drop leaves to feed the soil around fruit trees or other plants. To reap the above passive benefits of comfrey in the garden, simply let it grow and do its thing. Pollinator and beneficial insect attractor.Potassium phosphorous, calcium, copper, iron, and magnesium are nutrients that comfrey reportedly accumulates ( Edible Forest Gardens, volume 2). Like other pioneer species, comfrey helps other plants get a foothold, and subsequently moves the landscape along in succession.įibrous roots of the comfrey plant break up compact soil, allowing water in and increasing soil biodiversity.Ĭomfrey is also a dynamic accumulator, meaning that it mines nutrients from deep in the soil, which accumulate in the foliage and replenish the surface soil when the spent leaves decompose. Early succession just means a young landscape with mostly annual plants, grasses, and forbs, that hasn’t had time or inputs to mature into a more densely vegetated and fertile landscape. Here are the many benefits of growing comfrey, and some reasons not to grow it as well.Ĭomfrey’s large leaves shade, cool, and protect the soil, offering shelter and habitat for insects and smothering weeds.īecause it can grow in early succession landscapes and helps other plants get established, comfrey is a pioneer plant. It’s almost easier to list the services comfrey doesn’t provide than what it does. That said, there are many benefits to growing comfrey, and that’s what we’ll discuss today. So think twice about where to put your comfrey plants, because they will probably be there for a long time. It took a while, a few years if I recall correctly, before she was able to get rid of the comfrey completely. Even the smallest root fragments grew right back into new plants. When my mom went to dig it out with a shovel, some of those roots stayed in the soil. This plant propagates through root divisions, and it’s a tough plant. Eventually, she decided to get rid of her comfrey, since it needed more water than the surrounding xeric plants.ĭeciding to get rid of comfrey and actually getting rid of it are two different things. But, she noticed it wanted a lot of water, and that it even acted as an indicator by drooping when part of the garden was getting dry. When I was little, my mom grew comfrey and enjoyed having it around for fodder for the goats, its pretty purple flowers, and large mulching leaves. But it’s an excellent permaculture plant, I have it growing in my food forest, and so I’m featuring comfrey this month. I almost didn’t want to write about comfrey for this reason. In permaculture, we give comfrey as a prime example of multi-functional plants so often that it’s now a cliche. Let’s talk about the many uses of comfrey in the garden. For more information, see my full disclaimer. Hey there! Some links on this page are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
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