posted 9 years ago
I've got comfrey (Bocking 14) planted all over, and some of those plants are within 18 inches of fruit trees. I've got it growing near apples, plums, pluots, apriums, apricots, peaches, oranges, mandarines, lemons, figs and avocados. It does well everywhere, and all those trees are doing just fine.
I don't plant it on all sides of a tree --- just here and there in 3 to 5 plant "drifts". That allows me to plant other stuff within the guild in the root zone of the tree.
A couple of observations. First, comfrey plants can get really big. Some of my plants easily grow to 3 feet across or more, so it's important that you give them enough space. For this reason, I wouldn't plant them closer than 2 feet from a tree trunk.
Second, they like a lot of mulch (well duh, what plant doesn't like mulch?). I mulch heavily with wood chips around my fruit trees and comfrey plants, and they really do well with that. No weeds or grass comes up, and as the mulch breaks down, the soil under the comfrey is absolutely beautiful.
Third, when you stick a spade under a mature comfrey plant (particularly if it's growing in the aforementioned heavy wood chip mulch), you'll be shocked how big the earthworms are around it. Comfrey seems to be a worm magnet. HUGE worms. I would assume that the worms are feeding on the surface of the soil, eating the fallen comfrey leaves that pile up under the new growth.
Finally, in the winter and spring, I find a lot of spiders over-wintering under the plants in the leaves that stack up and dry there. So I don't cut my comfrey back after August or so. I let it get big and leafy, and let those dried brown comfrey leaves and stalks pile up a bit. Then in late March and April, I start going around the garden with a small hand sickle, reaching under that big mass of dead leaves, and with one swipe, I cut through the whole mass of leaves, both dead and living. I'll pile the mass of leaves around here and there (chop and drop) and that should give the little spiders time to scamper out and find a new home.
In some areas where I plant winter cover crops, those plants can outcompete the comfrey. It's hard to kill a comfrey plant, but it seems that if it gets smothered by a heavy winter cover crop, it will do just that -- die. So during the cool season when the comfrey goes a bit dormant, I try to keep my winter crops from crowding it too closely. Since I broadcast my winter seed, I've got to be careful.
"The rule of no realm is mine. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, these are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail in my task if anything that passes through this night can still grow fairer or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. For I too am a steward. Did you not know?" Gandolf