To be livid she's destroyed my plant

102 replies

Allyoli · 22/05/2023 20:28

I had a comfrey plant growing on my allotment plot in the corner. It was about a metre tall, maybe 30cm wide? Totally within the bounds of my plot. And flowering. I like the flowers and the bees love it, so I left it to do it's thing.

Woman on the plot next to mine has the most perfect (albeit sterile) looking vegetable plot - everything in perfect squares, not a leaf out of place, only vegetables, no flowers. She's there for several hours every morning. She doesn't talk to or respond to anyone on the plot, which is obviously fine.

Anyway, in the past day or so she decided to take it upon herself to come over to my plot and completely flatten my comfrey plant. I could see footprints that aren't mine in the soil. I asked if she had done it and she admitted she had because the flowers will soon turn to seed and spread on her plot.

I'm livid. Surely anyone's plants/flowers/weeds in the entire allotment site could spread seeds to yout plot at any time? Whats she going to do next, destroy all my crops before they're ready in case they spread to her plot? Aibu? How can I get her to stay off my plot without things escalating?

OP posts:

CalistoNoSolo · 23/05/2023 13:03

off · 23/05/2023 05:03

A bit of a tangent, but I'm slightly concerned by what you said about using comfrey as food and medicine, in the context of recent scientific concerns about comfrey and liver toxicity.

From what I can make out, it's currently considered potentially dangerous to eat for humans and possibly also livestock, with concerns about a risk of serious liver damage. Applied topically, it seems there's a possibility that the toxic components could enter the body through any broken skin, and even through intact skin, and potentially harm the liver that way. IIRC the Americans recommended it not be sold as a herbal medicine at all, and I think the European Medicines Agency recommended strict limits on strength of preparations a while ago.

I know people have fed comfrey to livestock for a long time, but for me the questions over toxicity are worrying enough that I wouldn't risk my own liver — I'm hoping to keep mine going another fifty years yet 🤣 There must be less questionable things to eat and use as skin balms?

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Yes, you're absolutely correct. I think I was thinking of borage :)

CaroleSinger · 23/05/2023 15:30

She shouldn't be traipsing all over other people's allotment, it's bad form and lacks respect for boundaries HOWEVER you probably couldn't get a more pernicious weed than comfrey. It's massively invasive and it will do bugger all to it just treading on it. The roots are like cables and they spread for meters. We have entire waste plots thick with the stuff and it's literally indestructible and impenetrable. You're never going to get rid of the stuff anyway. I'd understand if it wasn't a plant that's going to wipe your own allotment out anyway in a few years, but comfrey is horrific stuff to control.

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