Let’s discuss why you might want to grow comfrey in your garden and a few different ways to use comfrey.
I’ve been growing it for four years and I think it’s a valuable addition to a vegetable garden.
There’s plenty of reasons to grow this magnificent plant and plenty of ways to use it on your homestead or in your backyard garden.
Why Grow Comfrey
If you spend much time in the permaculture community, you’ll hear permies talk about the value of comfrey at some point. Companion planting, feeding the soil, feeding animals, medicinal uses, this plant can do it all.
While I’m not sure comfrey is the magic cure for all our problems that many claim it is, I’m definitely glad to have it growing in my own garden.
Comfrey is popular to grow in permaculture gardens for four main reasons.
1. Comfrey is a dynamic accumulator
It has roots that grow deeply to draw up nutrients and minerals, like potassium, that are buried deep below the soil surface.
Comfrey roots can grow down as deep as 8 feet and span a 3 foot radius. It’s roots mine the soil and deliver the nutrition to its leaves. When we use comfrey leaves as mulch or added to our compost pile, the nutrients are released and enrich the soil.
2. Comfrey leaves grow fast
It’s actually recommended to cut the plant down to the ground up to five times in a season to get the most use out of the leaves.
Comfrey regenerates and grows that quickly and prolifically.
This is why permaculture gardeners often use comfrey leaves to improve their soil and boost fertility.
3. Comfrey breaks down quickly
Comfrey leaves also decompose rapidly, adding organic matter and improving soil structure. Better soil structure holds onto water more efficiently and also stays aerated so plant roots get enough oxygen to grow well.
4. Easy to grow, low-maintenance, & looks nice
Comfrey grows well in all kinds of conditions and is very low-maintenance. I have a large bed of it growing in a far corner of my property where it is neglected and hardly anything else, including weeds, will grow.
Comfrey produces little purple flowers in the spring that the bumblebees in my garden absolutely love. It’s the first perennial to come up with attractive, green leaves in my vegetable garden.
After a long winter, comfrey is a welcome sight to see in the spring!
How to Use Comfrey
Now that you know why comfrey is such a great plant, let’s go over a few different ways to use comfrey.
As Mulch
Comfrey makes an excellent mulch. It’s nutrient-rich leaves are nice and wide, easy to spread as-is and provide shade to bare soil, or chopped and dropped in place.
If you aren’t already mulching your vegetable garden, I would highly encourage it. Keeping the soil cool helps it to retain moisture and prevents plants from becoming stressed.
Additionally, mulches suppress weed growth by depriving young weeds of sunlight, giving the plants we actually want a better chance to thrive.
I like using comfrey as a mulch because I grew it myself and I know that it’s “clean,” or hasn’t been sprayed with pesticides.
Some growers will plant comfrey under fruit trees so that they can chop up the comfrey leaves and drop them directly under the trees to add nutrition to the soil.
As a Green for Compost
This is one of my favorite uses for comfrey.
I grow a whole bed of comfrey next to my compost bin. When I have a pile of browns (carbon-rich sources like dead leaves or shredded bark), I layer it with freshly cut comfrey to jump start my compost pile.
With comfrey, it heats up quickly and the compost breaks down more rapidly than it would without a nitrogen-rich source.
For Fertilizer
There are a number of ways to create fertilizers with comfrey. One of the simplest ways to make a fertilizer, or “comfrey tea,” (definitely do not drink this!) is by steeping fresh cut comfrey leaves in a bucket of water out of direct sunlight.
Weigh the leaves down with a brick so that they are fully submerged.
Put a lid on the bucket because it’s going to stink!
Allow the leaves to decompose in the water for two weeks, stirring every so often.
To use it, mix it with fresh water in a ratio of 9 parts water to 1 part comfrey tea and water your plants with the solution.
As Animal Feed
I don’t have any experience with this, but I have heard of other homesteaders using comfrey to feed their chickens, turkeys, cows, and goats.
This article talks about using comfrey as feed and fodder.
Do your own research and talk to other homesteaders or farmers for this one!
For Ornamental Use
I think comfrey is a lovely herbaceous perennial. It has nice big, wide leaves and comes up early in the spring.
It tolerates sun and shade, and I have never once fertilized it or had to fend off pests or disease.
As an ornamental plant, it would make a nice border or specimen, contrasting well with ornamental grass or plants with silver, red or yellow leaves.
It’s comparable to solid green hostas but with all the added benefits that I already listed above!
Important Info: What Kind of Comfrey to Grow
I grow Bocking #4 comfrey which is supposed to be a sterile variety of comfrey. You do not want to grow wild comfrey or comfrey from seed because it will spread invasively and take over.
Even my sterile Bocking #4 Russian comfrey is kind of hard to remove once it’s been planted because it regrows so well from little pieces of the root.
Whenever I’ve dug it up or dug around a comfrey plant, a new baby one grows nearby. This is great news if you want to increase your stock, but bad news if you’re actually trying to remove it!
Be sure to plant your comfrey where you want it to be for a long time.
So Should You Grow Comfrey in Your Garden?
I guess it depends on your gardening goals.
- Are you trying to “close the loop” and reduce the number of inputs you purchase for your garden?
- Do you need a renewable source of nutrient-rich mulch for your plants or trees?
- Would you rather make free fertilizer or purchase it ready made from the store?
- Do you find yourself running out of greens for your compost bin or wanting to hot compost more frequently?
- Do you have an empty spot in your garden that needs a sculptural green plant with small flowers that attract pollinators?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then absolutely! Grow comfrey in your garden!
Happy growing, gardening friend!