Roundup kills Comfrey, forever, in one spray!

About ten years ago I heard Jack talk about Comfrey, so I bought some. I planted it at my small suburban house. It grew, I separated it, planted more of it. And about six years ago Jack’s message of “get into the rural-fringe” finally sank in and I went to 6 acres less than 30 minutes from a major city, in an area that has almost no codes, is zoned “rural agricultural” and I was later able to raise jumbo Pekin ducks in my front yard!!!

I brought along 5 cuttings from that comfrey and planted it. It took off and did wonderful, year after year! Then the county came along and sprayed Roundup (I confirmed it was roundup and nothing persistent), and it hit my comfrey. Nothing happened right away, but within a couple weeks everything in that path was dead, including my comfrey. I thought this “bulletproof” plant would recover. The 20′ taproot would recover. But no, (I think) Roundup goes through the leaves and into the root, and kills the whole plant. So 100% of my 10 year-old comfrey died. No side shoots popped up in future years, no sign of life at all.

So I have three lessons for you all. First, if you are worried about comfrey spreading uncontrollably; (it doesn’t – in my 1k square foot suburban backyard it never spread from a 2-foot diameter plant) know that a $2 bottle of Roundup will kill every bit of comfrey you don’t want, in one spray, forever! Second, you only need a small bit of comfrey to start a new plant. I planted a 1″ long, 1/4th” thick piece of comfrey root, and 100% of the pieces grew into a full plant. Third, it has two growth bursts, at least in zone 6. It will be one of the first greens out of the ground in the Spring, and will grow then flower. Then, it will re-grow, and re-flower the same year! You can use this to your advantage, because when the first set of flowers start coming up, either cut 90% of the plant away and feed it to your livestock, or step on it to make it shade out the crap next to it.