![]() Site development & IT Support by Stuart Lee. This site and all images contained therein is © Jeremy Lee 2004 - 2021. I sincerely hope you all enjoy the fruits of my labours. is the showcase for my personal passion, photographing uknature in all its glory. We have wild birds in huge numbers either residing or visiting our shores (597 recorded species as at July 2013) and we must also not forget the humble back garden with its grass lawns, flower beds filled with nectar rich flowers, shrubs and trees, all designed to attract huge numbers of insects such as bees, moths, butterflies and hoverflies and finally the small ponds which provide safe havens for frogs, toads, newts and even slow worms and grass snakes. Our vast range of habitats, from lowland arable to snow covered mountains, from storm-ravaged coastlines to peaceful inland freshwater lakes and rivers, from dry, sandy heaths to deciduous and coniferous forests, all these habitats contribute to the abundance of UK nature. is a website dedicated to showing the immense diversity of UK nature and wildlife. Grows all over the UK, but predominantly in England. White Comfrey has large, oval, hairy leaves and clusters of drooping, white tubular flowers. Herbaceous perennial native to Europe with white or purple flowers, large fuzzy leaves, that grows to a height of 1 m. ![]() The comfreys are a small group, but can be difficult to tell apart from each other as hybrids between species are common. It has become an important plant for organic gardeners as its roots reach deep into the soil making it rich in minerals and its leaves can be used for slug control, as a fertiliser and as a composting aid. It displays clusters of bell-shaped white flowers from May to July and often grows in clumps. Symphytum orientale, more commonly known as White Comfrey, is a hairy plant of damp ground and is often found beside rivers, in fens and ditches, and on roadside verges and waste ground. If you grow potatoes, lay an early cutting of the leaves under each seed potato they will fertilise the developing crop as they decompose.UK Nature > Wild Flowers > White Wild Flowers > Symphytum orientale In many perennial nurseries you can find different varieties of creeping comfrey (Symphytum grandiflorum), including Miraculum (red, pink and white flowers). It will mulch out any grass that competes with the root zone of the tree, the flowers bring in pollinating and naturally pest-predating insects and simply mowing or strimming the leaves will act as a cut-and-come-again mulch that releases minerals and nutrients into the tree’s root zone as it degrades. If you have fruit trees, you could do worse than plant comfrey around the base of the tree, leaving a foot or so from the trunk. If you have grape vines or stone fruit, you can use comfrey tea as a foliar feed, spraying it direct onto the leaves where it will be taken in readily.įor plants that need nitrogen for green growth - peas, beans, cut-and-come-again leaves and so on - you can follow exactly this method, but using nettles. ![]() I give them a good watering every fortnight from flowering, which they repay later in the season with a heftier, healthier harvest. The potassium in comfrey tea is especially good for any fruiting plants most of mine goes on aubergines, chillis, tomatoes, courgettes and beans. Once established, you can take three or four cuts of comfrey over the growing season, providing free nutrients and, in turn, more delicious produce. To use it, simply undo the lid, decant what you need and dilute it with about 15 parts water. Over the next fortnight or so, the leaves will break down under the weight of the brick and release a dark liquid. Dilute it if needed, as anything stronger is a waste.Īlternatively, you can invert a large water bottle (leave the cap on), cut the bottom off and fill the bottle with comfrey leaves. It should be the colour of very weak tea. Over a month or so, it will slowly leach its minerals into the water you’ll know when it’s ready to use, as it smells as if something with a very poor diet died a long time ago. The easiest way is to fill a net bag (I use an old onion net) with torn up comfrey leaves and suspend it from a cane into your water butt. A cluster of white, cream, pink, purple or blue tubular or bell-shaped flowers hang down from an uncoiling flower stalk. I make this a few times a year, starting in spring. There are a number of ways of putting these nutrients to good use. Country Life's Top 100 architects, builders, designers and gardeners.
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