Making the most of comfrey

Could you please advise me on the best way to obtain the most use from comfrey I have an area approximately 30x10 yards (all grown from one plant), at the moment I cut it twice a year and add to my compost heap, is it best to turn it into liquid, and apply, if so at what ratio, or, just dig it directly into the soil? A Shackcloth, Fakenham

To the organic gardener, comfrey is invaluable. It's easy to grow, easy to use and really beneficial to the garden. The roots draw nutrients from deep in the soil and transfer all the goodness into their leaves. This is why it is such a good fertilizer. Comfrey is a prolific perennial herb, so choose a site carefully, or it could take over. You can use the first cut of leaves by chopping them up and placing them in a trench with main crop potatoes. As the leaves are high in potassium, they make an excellent fertilizer. Allow to wilt after cutting, then layer to a depth of 1 to 2 inch. Comfrey can also be used on other plants that benefit from high doses of potassium, like tomatoes and runner beans. It has also been used to as a top dressing around soft fruit bushes, as they break down gently cultivate them in.

The leaves can also be used as a liquid fertilizer. Take the freshly cut leaves and pack them tightly into a plastic container (minimum size of five gallons)

Make sure it has a tap at the base; place the container on a base about 1 meter high to catch the black liquid as it forms. This black liquid should start to appear in about ten days. It then can be drawn off. This process will last for several weeks. Residue can then be used on your compost heap. Keep the concentrate in a bottle in a cool dark place. When you are ready, dilute using one part concentrate to fifteen parts of water. Use to water around your plants, or as a spray-on foliar feed. It will boost failing plants, greedy house plants and greenhouse crops.

Comfrey liquid is incredibly smelly, so don't use it near your back door. Put about 5kg of leaves in a 20 gallon water butt (with base and top) fill with water. Keep the lid on or you will attract flies. Leave for four weeks, and then draw the liquid off.

Russian comfrey was introduced into Britain in the 1870's by a Quaker smallholder Henry Doubleday. He ran a small factory making gum for stamps, at a time when gum Arabic was in short supply. Looking for potential new sources of gum he sent to Russia for some of their indigenous, prickly (S. asperum) which was reputed to be particularly high in 'mucilaginous matter'. Just by chance, the plants he was sent turned out to be the natural hybrid S. uplandicum, Russian comfrey. This was no good for gum but Henry Doubleday recognised its potential as a prolific source of protein that he felt could 'save the world'; he developed it in his garden and devoted his life to popularising its use.

It has been valued by gardeners ever since. Lawrence D Hills (founder and president of the HDRA) started his work promoting organic gardening with a special personal interest in comfrey. Recognising its worth, set up trials to categorise the different forms of comfrey found in Britain, he established his own research organisation naming it after the man who first introduced And promoted Russian comfrey to this country, that organisation being HDRA the Henry Doubleday Research Association.

Q: I have what appears to be a problem with a bamboo plant which I believe to be a “Fargesia Nitida”. I have this plant for about five years and it has developed into a mature specimen of maybe some 2.5 meters high. However during the past few months there has been a dramatic change to the plant it has lost most of its foliage and is now in the throws of producing what can only loosely be described as flowers. Should I be worried about this or will it revert to its original form given time. B Spooner email

A: Bamboo flowers irregularly. Some species flower annually, but only for a few years every 100 years or so they don't flower for 98 years (say) and then flower annually for 5, then stop again for another 98. When they flower they produce masses of seed, which is viable for just a few weeks. As a result, most of their propagation is vegetative - that is, takes place through rhizome separation. This may explain the phenomenon of gregarious flowering when the same species come into flower at the same time Give or take a few months all over the world: they are all clones. This flowering cycle appears to be linked to a species-specific genetic time clock. Different species, however, vary in flowering frequency from 30 to 120 years.

The flowering process takes up to two years to complete and puts enormous strain on the plants. Many flowering plants die as a result.

The flowers are inconspicuous and fertilisation is achieved by wind pollination. Seeds are commonly the size of a grain of wheat and if they are fertile will germinate readily, but the short viability of seeds result in limited success.