Comfrey

What Is Comfrey?

One of the best herbs for the garden, it is a particularly handsome variety with long leaves which are beautifully striped with yellow. Naturally from Europe and western Asia, it is now also cultivated in North America .The comfrey root and comfrey leaf have been used therapeutically for centuries.

Comfrey tea is used to be taken for the treatment of various problems, that include Sinus complaints and bad head colds and comfrey root tea has cured these problems. Dangers of comfrey are not serious but it has been reported that after drinking comfrey tea one elderly couple had some urinary problems but they were cured afterwards. Comfrey cream recipes can be viewed from various websites.

Aloe comfrey gel - dries wet cuts and shields skin while healing - fantastic for Hot Spots and irritation linked to healing. Comfrey Salves and Lotions are used for the medication of cracked and dry skin on hands and feet. Comfrey plant as a feed; Due to its foul smell many people put off consumption of it as a food though it has tremendous advantages.

Gardening Requirements:

Habit: A dwarf variety, it rarely tops a meter in height. The variegations in comfrey leaves are particularly noticeable in younger stems in autumn, thus allowing fresh new shoots to appear in summer. Plant comfrey is fast growing and looks superb in clumps near ponds, is hardy, fast-growing and evergreen. Growing comfrey is easy; this hardy plant which may take frost and drought produces masses of bright daisy green leaves that are often banded with other colors.

Low growing and forming small rosette of leaves, the comfrey herb are among the finest herbs, being compact and neat yet spreading fairly rapidly. Comfrey is a variegated form with green and cream leaves flushed and tipped with a deep yellow. During spring they produce masses of compact heads of little blue flowers. Doing best in cooler climates, they may be fairly drought resistant but prefer fairly moist conditions and certainly look more attractive when well watered. Prefer rather more sun than other varieties.

Feeding and watering: No special feeing is necessary but keeps well-watered throughout the year.

Planting: Not fussy about soil but include some compost in soil when digging over bed.

Enjoys rich well-drained soil. Dig over bed to depth of 25cm and across the surface place 3cm to 5cm layer of compost and kraal manure mixed in equal proportions. You may also sprinkle with 2:3:2 fertilizers cupful per square meter. Give mulch of compost which includes some bone phosphate in spring and water regularly-cannot take drought.

Propagation: Easy to grow from comfrey seeds, many people treat it as an annual for it rarely looks good when kept longer than two years. Also take cutting from established herbs in spring. Fresh comfrey root cuttings can be purchased online.

Advice for better growth of herbs in lawns: Lawns should be scarified every three or four years, or when they lose condition. This is done simply, by ripping the lawn with a rake to loosen long runners. These are then cut off by adjusting your mower to its lowest setting and virtually shaving your lawn level with the ground. Avoid back and forth cutting of your lawn to aviate the striped effect so often seen. The best pattern is achieved by starting in the middle of the lawn and moving in an anti-clockwise direction of wider and wider ellipses, working out towards the sides. End-turns are thus more gradual and easy to manage.