Anyone grown Comfrey ?

It’ll self seed liberally. So be prepared to do some weeding.
Buy good for fertiliser.

We grew it on the allotment (well, it was there when we took it on - we just tried to keep it under control!) and used it to make liquid fertiliser - very rich in potassium. It smells b****y awful but it’s very effective. My mother used to use comfrey for bruises and sprains. It’s known as ‘knit bone’.

I took leaves from my comfrey plant to line the trench for my runner beans. I don't know if it was cause and effect, but the beans were a great success.

Yes, we grow it on our allotment and it does self-seed, but we pluck it and throw it in the two water butts we keep for the purpose. Every now and again it tries to take over the strawberry patch and we have to be ruthless with it, but it's a good, cheap fertiliser.

Thank you for the replies.On balance I think I will probably plant some as it's well away from the main part of the garden and my herbaceous borders. Hope I don't regret it!

A very pretty and useful nuisance! It’s found it’s way into my lawn!

I have some in a border. Bees love it and I just pull most of it up at the end of flowering to keep it under control. There's one called Victorian lace, or maybe brooch, that has mottled leaves, I am having a problem getting established, so not all are invasive.

I used to get comfrey confused with lungwort, which we had a lot of near us in France, beside streams.
I've just looked it up and they both belong to the pulmonaria family. Also called borage I think.
Can you actually buy the plants?

Fennel - yes you can buy them in most garden centers. There are different varieties etc.

I had the variegated form years ago, which slowly reverted to green. It's a devil to get rid of, thought I'd succeeded a few years ago, but it's popping up again!

I must have a look, Telly. I haven't even found a garden centre near me yet, so don't know what selection they have.
We've only been in this house since last June.

When I had my allotment, I grew comfrey Bocking 14, which doesn't set viable seeds, so I never had any problems keeping it under control.
I just used to chop it down with the shears as I needed it, and amongst other things, I often put a layer of its leaves/stems around the potatoes, either before or after earthing them up.

I had 6" comfrey which was fine - I made ointment from it for burns.

Then I moved house and begged some roots from an acquaintance... It grew to 6' and seeded all over - still trying to keep it under control!
Yes it's good for liquid manure. Bit prickly though.

Borage and comfrey are not the same plant but are related.

Ok so will seek out the Bocking 14 type as that seems least likely to become too rampant.Thanks again.

I have been growing bocking 14 for 8 years and it has not moved from its rectangular space on my allotment. I use a hotbin to make compost and bocking takes 3 cuts a year, provides me with the best garden compost as it is also a heat accelerator in the hotbin. Comfrey is a very much better soil feeder than manure. Tyr to find a Lawrence Hills book. It is truly wonderful stuff and is all I ever use on my allotment, that plus my compst

I make a liquid feed from it too, stuff a can with leaves and water, then pour and dilute. It stinks