What To Do About Nettles and Comfrey

A small stand of nettles grows under my tiny magnolia tree. I've always allowed them to remain there because I know a number of butterflies such as Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Comma  rely on them for the growth of their caterpillars. Ladybirds like them too. Two years ago I began to make nettle fertiliser with them. I'm not a patient person but I found this so easy and the fertiliser so effective (and cheap, of course) that I now do it every year.

Nettles growing under Magnolia stellata

All it needs is a very simple kit: a bucket - importantly with a lid -  some sort of garden sieve or colander, and a can of some kind to store the final product - oh,  and a stick for stirring.  I wear thick gloves and long sleeves  and cut enough nettles  to fill the bucket, stalks and all, pushing them in gently, they don't have to be crammed down. I then fill the bucket with water, covering all the leaves and put on the lid. I leave mine to stand at the far end of the garden next to the compost heap so when I remember to stir it, preferably about once a week, the really serious stink that ensues won't come into the house.

Nettle fertiliser kit: jerry can with plant pot 'lid', bucket with lid and strainer

After about three weeks, I decant the liquid into a container. I found a small plastic Jerry can in my local pound shop (that's where the bucket and the sieve came from too). Welly boots are essential for this. The Jerry-type container didn't have a lid  so I use a small plant pot to keep the rain out. I dilute this concoction when watering, to feed all my leafy container-grown plants - about a small jam jar's worth in a watering can once a fortnight seems to work. It's particularly good for lettuces, chard, cabbages, kale, chives and so on.

This was so easy and successful and cheap, that I thought I would try a comfrey feed as well. Comfrey is a large plant and tough with very long roots. Once you have it, you have it for ever. However, there is a variety called Bocking 14 which does not set seed so can be kept more or less under control. A friend of mine gave me a root and it's taken well to a very shady, dry part of the garden under an elder tree.

Comfrey Bocking 14 growing under an elder tree

I've just picked three big stems and squashed the leaves into my bucket, put the lid on and am waiting. I'm  using  exactly the same technique as for the nettles. There's lots of different advice about making comfrey feed. Some people use a brick to keep the leaves in place, the very keen use a bucket with a hole in the bottom to allow the liquid to drain unto a receptacle underneath so you get a very condensed product. I don't do any of that. I just cover the leaves with water and let it mature. As with nettles, the smell is unbelievably strong but it works just as well. I will use the same way of straining and storing as I did with the nettles. I may have difficulty differentiating the two Jerry cans, but I'll try an outdoor paint with 'N' on one and 'C' on the other. One needs to know which is which because although both have many supplements beneficial for all plants, the permutations differ and whereas nettles have a lot of nitrogen, comfrey has more potash and is better for flowers and fruit than for leaves - it does much the same job as a proprietary tomato feed in fact.  You can add its stems and leaves when you're earthing up potatoes too.

Comfrey leaves covered in water waiting for lid

Nettle fertiliser is often called nettle tea, but since young nettles make a very healthy tea for humans, I prefer to call it nettle feed or fertiliser. When I lived in the country I used to make nettle soup which was not unlike spinach soup. The only other place I've been offered this was in Ireland. It needs plenty of black pepper.