Steffen Bauer

You're not alone. Comfrey is famously tough once it's established, but the seedlings are surprisingly delicate. The usual losses with seed-grown plants come from:

- Planting out too small, then hitting summer heat and dry soil before the taproot is deep enough. Growing them on in pots until they're a good size, and planting out in spring or early autumn, helps a lot.
- Too little water in the first season. Once established they're drought tolerant, but not in year one.
- Slugs and snails, which love young comfrey.

Seed germination is also erratic, which is one reason most people propagate comfrey from root cuttings or crown divisions instead. A few pieces of root a couple of inches long, laid in moist soil, usually take reliably and grow away much faster than seedlings. Your one survivor will be big enough to divide in a year or two.

In a snowy climate, autumn is often the easier window. After the thaw, the soil can stay wet for weeks, and broadforking wet soil does more harm than good because it smears and compacts instead of loosening.

The key either way is moisture. Squeeze a handful from a few inches down: if it crumbles, it's fine to work; if it forms a sticky ball, wait.

If you do it now, cover the bed afterwards with a good layer of mulch, leaves or compost rather than leaving it bare. Then the frost, worms and soil life keep working on it over winter, and in spring a quick pass, or sometimes none at all, is enough.

Hello everyone,

I'm Steffen from Stuttgart in southern Germany. I work with seeds every day and I'm also a beekeeper, so I'm always interested in plants that do double duty for the garden and the bees.

I'm looking forward to learning from all the experience here. One question to start: which perennial food plants have been the most reliable for you with the least care?

Best wishes,
Steffen