Comfrey
Plant·Symphytum
Part sun
Sun
Medium
Water
Moist soil
Drainage
Zones 3–9
Hardiness
Comfrey (Symphytum) is a plant. It grows best in sun to part shade and has moderate water needs. It grows well with tomato, common pear and apple.
Through the year
DormantLeafing outFlowering
Works well with
from wiki dataWHAT IT NEEDS
Wants part sun
Needs moderate water
Tolerates moist soil, as long as it drains well
Prefers soil pH 6–7.5
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Prefers loam, clay soil
Tolerates some soil compaction
Draws up potassium, calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, iron, manganese, boron, zinc, copper from deep in the soil
Adds a lot of organic matter to the soil
WHAT IT GIVES
Gives mulch biomass (high)
Gives shade (moderate)
Provides potassium
Provides calcium
Provides magnesium
Provides nitrogen
Provides iron
Provides manganese
Provides boron
Provides zinc
Provides copper
Attracts pollinators
HOW IT GROWS
SIZE & SPACING
Herbaceous
Height60–120 cm
Spacing90 cm (min 60 cm)
Root depthDeep
Width60–90 cm
Width figures are rough estimates, the most variable measurement in our data.
AI estimate · accuracy improves as growers contribute corrections.
HOW TO PROPAGATE
Propagate by division, seed
Difficulty
Establishes in about 1 yr
Self-seeds a little on its own
Where this comes from
Parsed11 Sept 2026
ConfidenceNot recorded