catjac1975
Garden Master
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2010
- Messages
- 9,028
- Reaction score
- 9,168
- Points
- 397
- Location
- Mattapoisett, Massachusetts
There are different kinds of Confrey. The kind I have I would not wish upon my worst enemy. I started with 1 purchased plant. It is recommended for feeding to animals to keep them healthy.. I have long forgotten what it is good for. It spreads by seed, and by underground roots.At first I thought "Yay, free plants!" The roots grow to the size of baseball bats. In my sandy soil they are growing straight down beyond the total reach of a shovel. We though tiling it up would be a great idea. Each bit of root turns into a new plant. We have dug out tens of thousands of plants in the last 20 or so years. We have it under control but, only by tenacious removal and never let it go. There are comfrey cultivars that are not so invasive. Research it before you get any..i do have to say that the deer keep eating it here so the patch i've grown has not gotten very far from the initial few plants and so this past year i took it apart and spread it out so the individual plants have more room to spread out. the deer ate it again this winter/spring, but it is now growing surrounded by daffodils so it has a chance of getting some leaves on it again. it is still alive. i give it credit for being a survivor so far. i'm hoping it will keep going as where i've put it is on a slope of clay so it will need to be tough.