[Tinbasher]

On the borders of a public park near where I work and throughout the undergrowth within a coppice of trees, there used to be reams and reams of comfrey.  There was no need to grow any of my own as there was so much available wild.  Last autumn, the Council came along and cleared all the undergrowth within the coppice and generally tidied up the area, which to be fair had gotten well overgrown, not only with comfrey but also loads of nettles and the usual weeds plus loads of weak tree saplings that had self-seeded.  They have always regularly mown the grass on the park, but still the comfrey used to return, especially on the borders and along the banks of a nearby brook.

As this year has wore on, I have kept my eye out for the abundance of comfrey re-appearing, but to no avail.  It seems to have disappeared completely - all except for a solitary plant that I discovered yesterday (after searching on and off for weeks now) near the bank of the stream.

What I want to know is can you take cuttings of comfrey as I'm afraid that if this one disappears or dies, that will be the end of it?  It's now so sparse that at last I've considered it worthwhile to poach some and get it up to the allotment site.  The lone plant looks very healthy and is about to come into flower soonish.  If it is possible to take shoot cuttings, shall I wait till after flowering?  If I can take cuttings, will soft shoot cuttings suffice?

If cuttings aren't an option, can I dig it up and divide it, taking half with me and replacing the other half?  If so, when is it best to do this?

Thanks.

[gobs]

I'd think much easier to propagate from root or division, keep it moist. Not fussy really.

[GrannieAnnie]

I'm really surprised it disappeared Tinbasher!  Everytime I dig my comfrey up to move it, the little bits of root that get left behind come back, even when I've put weedkiller on it!!!!! lol

Like Gobs says, dig up a little bit of root and just stick it in the ground, but put it where you want it permanently!  It's not as invasive as mint, but if you dig it up to move, it will grow again in the original spot!

And it will take at any time, I never think oh I've got to wait until autumn!

[Trillium]

How true, Grannie. A get mine from a friend who simply digs up whatever is in her way and sends it to me all summer long. It all took so now I've got wild comfrey (we don't have your hybrid) growing along my property line and can soon harvest some.

[Tinbasher]

I'm really surprised it disappeared Tinbasher!  Everytime I dig my comfrey up to move it, the little bits of root that get left behind come back, even when I've put weedkiller on it!!!!! lol

Like Gobs says, dig up a little bit of root and just stick it in the ground, but put it where you want it permanently!  It's not as invasive as mint, but if you dig it up to move, it will grow again in the original spot!

And it will take at any time, I never think oh I've got to wait until autumn!

I'm surprised too given everything I've ever read about comfrey, but it's true.  It used to be everywhere on the land I described - all along the stream, throughout the undergrowth and even on the grassland surrounding the park.  I find it weird, even scary, that it seems to have disappeared almost completely and I'm at a loss to understand why.  The nettles are as profuse as ever, dock is everywhere as are the dandelions but the comfrey seems to have been hit by something I can't fathom.  Like I said, there used to be clumps of it here and there on the grassland, and despite short mowing of the grass by the Council, it used to spring back with new shoots within a week or two.  One of the best patches was in an untended border area by a footbridge that goes over the stream and which is only about 10 yards from the front door of my workshop.  I treated it as my own personal spot in the wild.  The area is still untended and is now rampant with nettles, etc as usual but alarmingly, the comfrey has completely disappeared from this area and the area was never tended to in the Council clear-up.

Another thing that was got rid of within the tree coppice was thick tangles of dog-roses (are they called?) that used to produce hundreds of rosehips every autumn, and which I harvested for wine.  I admit they became very unsightly and were a very prickly mass of bushes, but still, they had their use in the scheme of things.  Now sadly all gone.  The area looks more spacious and tidier but is this necessarily a good thing?  I haven't seen the wren that used to be about every year and definitely nested somewhere within the coppice.  Man eh, always interfering.  

[gobs]

Unless they used some weed killer too, everything should come back, the comfrey and dog rose might be only next year back in power.

[GrannieAnnie]

You're right, it is very strange tinbasher!  And what you said about things being 'tidied up', well when I was sorting stuff out of the garage to take to a local auction, I found my book 'Hovel in the Hills' by Elizabeth West.  Have you ever read it?  It’s brilliant.

anyway, she was saying in the bit I was reading tonight that she and hubby used to know this lovely bit of wasteland that had so many wild flowers, trees and wildlife in it, and because it was so overgrown, hardly anyone used to go there, but there were some wonderful birds and little creatures living there.  then one day the 'conservationists' moved in and decided to 'tidy' it up.  The old quarry pit was filled in with the hummocks and other stuff lying around, all the plants and weeds were destroyed and grass planted.  then to be good conservationists, they planted plants and young trees, but they were the same trees that they'd destroyed on younger ones, but all the birds and other wildlife had been killed or moved away.  It never was the same again!!!! lol

Our garden is the opposite.  When we moved here, the conifers the previous owners had planted were small, only a foot high.  now normally we would have dug them up, but as our garden backs onto the A52 which is very busy and noisy, we left them there and the trees that the highways dept had planted when they built the A52 have now grown high, plus we have other plants and trees around and our 'lawn' grows really long before Brian gets around to cutting it and we have a bird box.  At first, we noticed it was very quiet (apart from the traffic of course!) and we used to say isn't it strange how there's no birds around here?  But now everything has grown, as well as the blooming pigeons, we have swallows who usually nest in the old goat shed, but I turfed them out in case they gave something nasty to our chicks, but they are still here, so they've found somewhere else close by, there is a blackbird's nest in one honeysuckle and the wagtail that last year nested in the pile of paviours on the drive has also nested in the same honeysuckle, there is a pair of wrens nesting nearby and a pair of wrens.

We also get gold finches, all the usual sparrows, there's a starlings nest in the hole in the roof all the finches and blue and great tits.  It's a much better garden now, shame about the traffic!!!! But it’s always quiet Christmas day!!!! lol

[Tinbasher]

You're right, it is very strange tinbasher!  And what you said about things being 'tidied up', well when I was sorting stuff out of the garage to take to a local auction, I found my book 'Hovel in the Hills' by Elizabeth West.  Have you ever read it?  It’s brilliant.

It sounds good and I'll try to find a copy, maybe first by looking in the local library.

Your garden sounds great and yes, there's a lot to be said by leaving alone where possible and allowing nature to do her thing.  I'm going to go all along the stream for a few hundred yards tomorrow seeking out the comfrey.  I still can't believe it's all gone, bar the solitary plant I described.  I'll carefully excavate and divide this plant, take some to the allotment and try to spread some about in more secret locations here and there.

[peterjf]

you will get great comfrey plants from a 1 inch piece of comfrey root , im sure if you walk down to your local allotment site there will be a plot keeper who is willing to give you 2-3 pieces of root , start them off in a pot and as soon as you see green shoots , 2 inch high , plant them out , i planted mine around the outside of my compost heap , all coming up great

[flowerlady]

Has anyone ever had a reaction to the hairs on the comfrey???

Last weekend I ended up covered in pinprick spots!  :shock:   I had just cut my comfrey row down - to mulch the spuds .......

.......  can't make up my mind if it was heat rash or reaction!!  :?

[gobs]

Has anyone ever had a reaction to the hairs on the comfrey???

Last weekend I ended up covered in pinprick spots!  :shock:   I had just cut my comfrey row down - to mulch the spuds .......

.......  can't make up my mind if it was heat rash or reaction!!  :?

Yeap, you well advised to handle only wearing gloves. Can give rashes all right.

[Beejay]

I have already had 2 cuttings (potatoes and compost) from my comfrey patch and it is still going mad I will be using the next cut for comfrey tea. I have never known a plant to grow as fast as this. I am unable to get to the plot today as the weather is atrocious, heavy rain :cry: