Comfrey

[Bex]

I bought a small comfrey plant today from the local garden centre for £1.50, does it spread like mint or will it be alright just planted in the ground. I'm hoping to use it as a liquid feed eventually. I also got a lemon balm and a curry plant I'm slowly building up my collection.

Thanks

[Two_Sheds]

Depends what variety you got. "Wild" Comfrey will seed itself everywhere. Russian Bocking 14 is sterile and will stay where you plant it. Have a look thru some of the old threads for more advice/discussion...

Lemon balm is lovely, but I don't like curry plant.

[Paulottie]

Lemon balm is worse than comfrey- it will seed everywhere. neither will spread like mint from the roots but Comfrey is quite difficult to dig out once established. no idea about curry plant.

[Two_Sheds]

yeah, but lemon balm is delish...drink as a tea, or just sniff it.

[TonyF]

Two Sheds, I use the lemon balm as a culinary herb also, in the summer mixed with other herbs in herby couscous rather than use lemon juice and rind.

[Bex]

Mmm, Tony, you just made my mouth water. Glad I bought it now as I had no idea what to do with it.

[Herblady]

Lemon Balm is also lovely chopped up in a fresh fruit salad!

Comfrey - most types will spread rather nicely - but is an excellent compost herb as well as being a medicinal herb for bruises, broken bones and all manner of ailments. It is such a rapid healer that great care must be taken to ensure cleanliness of wound before applying.

[terrier]

I've only grown Lemon Balm in pots, it doesn't grow very big and I've had no trouble with it seeding everywhere. How big does it grow if I plant it out?

[Earthbabe]

Lemon balm is worse than comfrey- it will seed everywhere. neither will spread like mint from the roots but Comfrey is quite difficult to dig out once established. no idea about curry plant.

Have to disagree a little re the lemon balm. It can spread quite readily by the roots so needs to be a little contained. It is reputed to be difficult to grow from seed although I would disagree with that too as I have twenty odd self seeded plants in modules on the patio. However it is a wonderfully aromatic plant so worth having in the garden for teas, just smelling, etc.

Comfrey can develop a huge tap root which is very difficult to remove but if it does self seed the seedling are very easy to remove at the one or two leaf stage, you just have to be vigilant. (she says having dug up half the lawn to remove a load - ok I've exaggerated slightly).

Curry plant can grow quite big but has a network of roots rather than one big tap root. It generally doesn't set seed but can be easily propagated from cuttings. It has a wonderful smell especially when wet.

[denise]

A large area of one of my lotty paths has lemon balm growing on it form a previous tenant. It is lovely to smell it when walking up and down the path. I am hoping to keep it under control by strimming the tops off, will this work? Also growing in the path i have comfrey, i am hoping it is the correct variety, leaves look the same as the plants i got from garden organic - but I guess all comfrey looks preety similair to the un trained eye like mine. Any way of telling one from the other?

[TPeers]

Does is spread rampantly? Is it a right bar stool to dig out? I don't care how useful the stuff might be, the previous owner of our house planted the wrong sort - it's a bleepin' nightmare!

[Earthbabe]

If you get the seedlings small they aren't a problem to get out. Once it gains some size it becomes a problem getting the tap root out and it doesn't seem to be affected by glyphosate (Mr E tried with the one on the lottie!)

[pdblake]

I got mine from our work's carpark last year before it got sprayed with soemthing horrible. I just pulled up a stem that was poking through the tarmac, took it home and cut it into pieces, put them in a bucket of compost and left it. A few weeks later I had five healthy looking plants.

Right now I have a small raised bed full of the stuff and a very large container of homemade tomato feed

It's pretty tough stuff and great for putting in trenches and pots. Like cut and come again green manure

[Flummery]

I find lemon balm smells too much like soap to find it agreeable to use in food or drinks - taste is such a very individual thing. However, Mr F, an amateur botanist, found a comfrey a few weeks ago which had yellow flowers. He brought home a little sprig to determine its species (he did tell me but I've lost it in the mental filing system!). When he does this, he puts plants in one of my little vases to keep them fresh. I noticed today that this is still suspiciously fresh and is now rooting. I think I'll pot it up, but bearing in mind the advice here I shall keep it in a pot. It's a lovely thing though - really deep egg yolk yellow.