In Susan’s back yard, the comfrey is abuzz with bees.

My friend Kathy Jentz (writer/editor/podcaster) told me not to miss her podcast interview with landscape architect Thomas Rainer, the highly regarded landscape architect and author. I’ve listened and I was intrigued by his big-picture and forward-looking perspective. (And Kathy’s a very good interviewer.)

After her interview with Thomas, Kathy read an except from her book Groundcover Revolution. – the part about comfrey, one of my favorite groundcovers.  As a lawn-free gardener, I’ve learned to count on plants that DO THE JOB – cover the ground quickly and thickly enough to prevent new weeds, and require no inputs.

If only this groundcover were native to somewhere in North America, I think it would be wildly popular as a lawn replacement. But for anyone who IS open to a tough, near-evergreen, pollinator magnet that’s from Europe, I recommend they see what Kathy has to say about it, illustrated with photos from three of my gardens. Susan  

Plant Profile: Dwarf Comfrey, aka Iberian comfrey, Comphrey

Dwarf Comfrey (Symphytum ibericum) makes an impenetrable groundcover that is wonderful for swallowing leaves and blocking out weeds. It spreads by underground roots and forms mounds of dark-green leaves. The flowers are clusters of peachy-yellow bells on the end of tall, nodding stocks. 

It can grow from full sun to part shade, with reports that it even thrives in full shade. It is not picky about soil types and is drought-tolerant once established. It is in the Borage family and has many similarities to that perennial herb.

Comfrey is an efficient soil nutrient accumulator. After the first flush of flowers, chop the plants down and spread the pieces around for an excellent garden mulch. Comfrey “manure” is a rich source of calcium and manganese. Add it to your compost pile as well as the comfrey leaves act as a bio-activator. The plants will regrow quickly.

It can quickly cover an open area and does well on slopes and hillsides for erosion control.

In Susan’s front yard, blooming with azaleas.

It is easily propagated by root cuttings or division. It is difficult to remove all the roots when transplanting it and it will return, so plant it in a spot where you intend to keep it.

Dwarf Comfrey is a pollinator powerhouse plant. Adding it near your vegetable garden encourages bees to visit your nearby tomatoes and other plants to pollinate them as well. Beekeepers will especially want to cultivate this groundcover near their hives.

In Susan’s back garden.

It is a desirable groundcover for use under fruit trees and berry bushes. The comfrey’s root systems don’t compete with that of the trees and shrubs. A solid groundcover of Dwarf Comfrey eliminates the need to weed-whack and mow around the fruit-bearing plants, which protects them from possible mechanical injury.

Deer do not find it palatable and it is free of serious disease and pest issues.

In the entrance garden to a commercial building that Susan adopted, it filled in quickly and is admired by passers-by.

According to plant expert Barbara Melera, “Comfrey’s most-significant qualities are related to what the plant does for garden soil. The fat roots aerate heavy clay soils, breaking them up into much more-amenable loam.”

Kathy Jentz is editor of Washington Gardener Magazine, author of three books, and host of the award-winning podcast Garden DC.