On 4/2/08 08:59, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


In article ,
Charlie Pridham writes:
| In article ,
| says...
|
| I am new to the UK from the US and haved moved into a wonderful cottage
| with a rather extensive but overgrown garden. There is something(I can
| only assume that it is a weed) that has taken over virtually every inch
| of the beds, but after scouring the internet, I have been unable to
| identify it. Can anyone help? I would also appreciate any advice on
| eradicating it. I would like to clear my beds and plant, but would hate
| for it to take over again, as it looks like it is quite aggressive. Any
| help would be great!
|
| That looks like one of the comphreys, probably symphitum ibericum (check
| the spelling!) its difficult to control on heavy soils but on my light
| soil makes a good well behaved ground cover under trees etc

Not to me, it doesn't! It looks like what I think of as enchanter's
nightshade (though I may be wrong in that) - a most pernicious weed.
It runs underground, has both stolons and very thin roots, and will
regrow from both (including deep roots).

The question is how big, thick and hairy are the leaves, and are they
'juicy' when broken? Comfrey is all of those, and the weed I am
thinking of isn't.


I think it is the Comfrey, Nick. I looked at photos of the two side by side
and the one Malisobel has looks like what we have here and call Comfrey. We
just dig masses of it out at a time because it does, indeed, spread like
wildfire. The enchanter's nightshade - v. pretty! - seems to have a whiter
and more open flower that doesn't droop into such closed bells as Comfrey
does.


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'