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Post by tigerlily on Apr 25, 2009 15:09:43 GMT
Last night - with assistance from Scrab - I managed to identify some of the main weeds growing like Topsy in the garden here. I have tons and tons and TONS of comfrey! At least, I think it's comfrey. The advice I read about it is that it is really good for the soil, so if I dig it in to the beds before it flowers, am I right to think that it won't necessarily regrow, provided I manage to haul out most of the roots and bury it deep enough? This is comfrey, right? The buttercup-leaved plant with the little pinky-purple flowers and red-tinged leaves and stems is Herb Robert, or geranium robertianum. This is another one of those plants that gets absolutely everywhere, but it does look quite pretty.
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Post by troykerr on Apr 25, 2009 15:34:09 GMT
Best of luck getting rid of Comfrey if such it is. You can at least use it as green manure or steep the leaves in water and use the liquor. See here
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Post by tigerlily on Apr 25, 2009 18:23:57 GMT
Well, the roots don't look like comfrey, so now I am flummoxed once more!
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Post by Fi on Apr 26, 2009 11:06:13 GMT
So, what do the roots look like? Without knowing, I suspect it's a close relative of comfrey - borage. Like comfrey it has many uses, including using the flowers, which taste of cucumber, to brighten up a green a salad.
Presumably because of its medicinal properties, Iraqis believe that eating borage makes men strong.
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Post by tigerlily on Apr 26, 2009 12:34:11 GMT
I didn't see any evidence of long, black roots, which comfrey apparently has. it has quite shallow, whitish-beige roots, a lot of them that spread out maybe two or three inches all round, but not terribly deep.
Thanks for the tip, Fi!
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Post by Fi on Apr 26, 2009 21:31:23 GMT
Thanks Tigs - both comfrey and borage do form thick tap roots once they are established, but these take several years to develop and are definitely not necessarily black, although there's often a thin black skin, again in older plants - you can see the variation in this image : Having said that, I'm not %100 convinced your plants are either - the acid test will be when they flower. Of course, you could try smelling and tasting the leaves - if they smell and taste of cucumber then it's borage. Comfrey has a less specific taste, but it isn't unpleasant. If they are either comfrey or borage, consider keeping some of them back for their properties - comfrey in particular is the best thing that ever happened to compost heaps, especially when mixed with chicken poo - the heap temporarily gets so hot that it kills most weeds, including tomato seeds! I've not tried using it to make a liquid fertiliser, because it stinks. I certainly wouldn't try digging comfrey in to get rid of it and enrich the soil - it'll just grow again from any bits of root that are left. Unfortunately the only quick way to eradicate it is to use weedkiller - otherwise it will need hoeing and digging out for several years and even then chances are that some will survive, albeit in managable numbers. If the winters are cold enough borage only lasts for a year and, so long as it doesn't get left to set seed, can be readily controlled. But there again, they may be something completely different - such is life.
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Kay Ninegriptight
TOG
Blessed are the cracked for they shall let in the light
Posts: 210
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Post by Kay Ninegriptight on May 8, 2009 9:42:48 GMT
I've just been out to have a look at my comfry and no it doesn't look much like yours. There are different varieties though. Yours does look a bit like borage as someone said but it would be hard to know for sure what it is until it flowers. I love both for their uses as already mentioned and I love the color of borage flowers. I'd just leave a good bit just to see what happens. I gather this is a new to you garden. The first spring in a different garden is so exiting!
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