Comfrey: planting & caring for the medicinal herb

Comfrey is an ancient medicinal plant that is also very interesting for bumblebees. We introduce the comfrey herb and reveal how it can be grown in your own garden.

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale), also called wallwort, has all kinds of healing powers inherent in it. Therefore, people have been using it for thousands of years. The Boraginaceae is often found as a native weed in species-rich meadows and forest edges. We show the diverse uses of comfrey and explain the cultivation of the valuable herb step by step.

Comfrey: origin and characteristics

Comfrey is a perennial wild and medicinal plant native to us. If it feels comfortable in its location, the plant can live up to 20 years.

Under the genus Comfrey (Symphytum), in English "Comfrey", there are about 40 species that are native to Eurasia and North Africa. Our native species, the common or true comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is common between Spain and China. Comfrey is a herbaceous, perennial plant that dies above ground in winter and sprouts again in spring. The deciduous perennial roots down to a depth of 1.80 meters, becomes about 30 to 60 centimeters high and forms large leaves. The stiff stem and the leaves are coarse and hairy, which is a typical feature of the members of the predatory family - as well as forget Me Not (Myosotis), Bee friend(Phacelia tanacetifolia) and adder head (Echium vulgare) - is. Several of the flowers hang down in so-called double coils. They are reminiscent of small bells and are colored purple, yellow or white. The flowering period of the comfrey extends - depending on the variety and location - from May to October. Only bee species with a long proboscis can use the nectar of the comfrey flower, which is why bumblebees (Bomb sp.) and other large wild bees to the banquet. Most flowers, however, are sterile and seeds rarely form. Wallwort reproduces mainly vegetatively via the runners of its rhizome, i.e. its creeping storage sprout.

Genuine comfrey and co.: types and varieties of comfrey

A distinction is made between several types of kelaron, which are used either as medicinal plants, forage plants or ornamental plants. We will introduce you to the most important types and varieties of comfrey:

The common comfrey is divided into three subspecies: The white comfrey (Symphytum officinale ssp. bohemicum), the real comfrey (Symphytum officinale ssp. officinale) and the swamp comfrey (Symphytum officinale ssp. uliginosum). In addition to the real comfrey, the rough comfrey (Symphytum asperum) seen more often from the Caucasus. This species reaches heights of growth of up to 180 centimeters and is therefore significantly higher than the real comfrey. He was born in the 16th It was introduced as a forage crop in the 19th century because it is significantly poorer in harmful pyrrolizidine alkaloids. A hybrid was created from the real comfrey and the rough comfrey, the feed comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum). This is completely free of alkaloids and so it is not only fed, but also administered as a medicinal plant in capsules for internal use. A decorative type of comfrey is the blue comfrey (Symphytum azureum), which particularly inspires with its sky-blue flower color. In many perennial nurseries you can find all kinds of varieties of the Lesser Caucasus Comfrey (Symphytum grandiflorum). The variety ranges from ‘Miraculum‘ with red-pink-white flowers to ‘Hidcote Blue‘ with deep red Buds and white-pale blue flowers to ‘blue bells‘ with large, blue-purple flowers and wine-red Buds.

Plant and multiply comfrey

If you want to plant legwort, you can prefer it with seeds, propagate it vegetatively by division or use young plants from perennial nurseries.
Comfrey seeds are placed in nutrient-poor potting soil like ours on a warm window sill in March Plantura organic herb and seed compost sown. In warm areas you can also sow directly into the ground from April. The sowing depth is 5 centimeters. Comfrey germinates a little irregularly and should be grown in the house after about three weeks in more nutrient-rich soil, like ours Plantura organic universal soilto be implemented. In May, the young plants are put in their final location, where they take root over the summer and thus survive the winter.
However, dividing an existing comfrey perennial is much easier than sowing. With a sharp spade, part of the roots and buds are cut off in the spring and planted in a new place. Of course, you can also plant pre-grown plants from the perennial nursery or the garden center. When planting, be careful not to damage the rhizomes and put enough high-quality potting soil into the generously sized planting hole.

Comfrey can be reproduced from its own seeds, the so-called Klaus fruits. However, they rarely form because most of the flowers are sterile. For this purpose, the seed heads are collected in autumn and left to dry out in the house so that they can be sown in the coming spring. As already described, the vegetative propagation by root cuttings and division is the much simpler variant.

Comfrey location

If you want to plant comfrey, you should find an optimal place for it in partially shaded to sunny areas that have a well-moist, humus-rich soil. The ideal locations for comfrey are places under the canopy of old trees, where the plant usually finds the necessary humus soil.

Care of comfrey

Real comfrey and related species hardly need any care, as wild plants they are very adaptable and undemanding. When planting comfrey, there are only a few points to consider when watering and fertilizing.

Pour comfrey

The real comfrey always needs well-moist soil. Particularly in the first year after planting, sufficient watering should always be provided, because dried out soil means that the medicinal plant will die. Even with older plants you should water again and again in extremely dry summers.

Tip: With a layer of mulch made of organic materials, the soil stays moist much longer and you save liters of irrigation water.

Fertilize comfrey

As a perennial plant, the wallroot often stands in the same location for many years. Every now and then, the nutrient supply should be replenished by fertilizing, especially if the comfrey is harvested regularly. In the spring, an organic universal fertilizer like ours Plantura organic universal fertilizer Spreading is sufficient to meet the needs of comfrey. Alternatively, it is also possible to use mature compost.

Use of comfrey

The real comfrey looks back on a long history as a medicinal plant and is still often used today as a comfrey ointment. But comfrey can also be used for fertilization.

Comfrey as fertilizer

The herb of the comfrey can be fermented into a nutrient-rich plant manure. In addition to the main nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, it also contains numerous micronutrients and silica. The liquid manure can also be used to fertilize and strengthen plants against pathogens and pests in the ratio of 1:10 in the irrigation water. In order not to weaken the comfrey itself too much, only the non-blooming shoots should be harvested - a maximum of four times a year.

Comfrey as a medicinal plant

Only the real comfrey has been used as a medicinal plant and has been so since ancient times. The name of the wallwort, both in German and in Latin, indicates one of the most important areas of application, bone healing with comfrey. Symphytum and the old German word “wallen” means “grow together” and “leg” used to be used to refer to bones.

The root or, more rarely, the comfrey herb was used for treatment. Both contain mucilage, saponins, tannins, the skin-caring allantoin and, typical for Raeblattgewächse, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are toxic to organs and tissues when used internally works. Real comfrey or comfrey ointment should only be used externally and not be applied to open wounds. The comfrey effect is pain reliever, wound healing and anti-inflammatory. That is why ointments, gels and other comfrey extracts are mainly used for sports injuries such as strains and bruises, but also for rheumatic pain.

Tip: make comfrey ointment yourself
In order to make a comfrey ointment from the raw product, the comfrey root, an oil extract must first be made. For this purpose, chopped comfrey root is placed in a closed vessel in olive oil for four to six weeks. Then, with the help of beeswax and a little heat, an ointment can be made from it.

Humans have used the healing powers of plants to alleviate all kinds of ailments since ancient times. We'll provide you 10 best medicinal plants from your own garden before and what effects they promise.