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Ok so I’m in upstate ny (the catskills) zone 5b.

Earlier this spring I put in a seed order (fedco, bc my farm manager gave me a coupon code) and decided to add some comfrey bare roots to the order.

Anyway, I did NOT order Russian / bocking, I ordered regular Symphytum officinale. 3 plants.

I planted one in a area that’s currently overrun w goutweed that I’m currently digging out said invasive and turning into a native Wildflower garden. One next to an elderberry, also surrounded by goutweed. And one in the area on the edge of my garden where I have black raspberries and clover

Then I realized my mistake and dug all 3 up and put them in a pot

Anyway my question is… Should I just kill it?

How hard to control is it? If I put it in an area I regularly mow the borders of, and just use it for chop and drop or salves, will if be a problem? How far does it spread from seed?

I’m thinking maybe I’ll grow it in a metal planter and just keep the flowers from going to seed, and grow a small amount for salves

But I’m already in wack-a-mole situation w other invasive and other endless problems on the property (neglected for the past 3 decades by my parents and abused for the prior 3 decades by previous owners) I’m worried about adding something new to keep up with to an ahready endless list.

Should I just burn the plants now and get sterile comfrey??

Just moved into a new house and were thrilled to find we had black raspberries, then quickly disappointed when we saw this all over them. I can tell it’s rust, and am guessing it’s orange rust based on how bright the color is. From what I’ve read so far, if it’s orange rust they’re most likely goners, only if it hasn’t spread past the leaves may they have a chance. All input appreciated

I know permies are the kings and queens of water control, so I’m hoping someone here will have some suggestions. I have 1.5 acres of land, most of which is straight up forest. I’ve got plenty of plans for the ample shade and dappled shade, but my big question resolves around the only area I have that might qualify as full sun. It’s on the side of the house, about 50ft wide, 30ft long, and over that 30 ft the land drops around 3-4 feet. This wouldn’t be enough of a slope to worry about, but almost all of the water from the lengthy driveway and the output from the downspouts runs straight down this slope and has washed away most of the top soil.

I currently have what we affectionately call “woodchip mountain” sitting at the top of this hill, acting like a berm, and it’s amazing how much a difference even that level of water management has done over the last couple of years. The soil has improved and some native plants are moving in. However, it still gets pretty muddy and I’m trying to figure out a more permanent solution that will enable me to eventually do some gardening (traditional vegetable and otherwise) over there.

I’ve toyed with the idea of a dry creek bed that routes to a rain garden, swales, check logs to create terracing, but I’m not really sure what will be best. It’s slightly complicated by the fact that I need to make sure that there’s room between whatever we do and the house for a truck to pass, for whenever we have to do tree work in the back. Keeping the back truck-accessible keeps tree work affordable.

If it’s something I can do myself and cheaply, bonus points, but if I have to pay someone to come in and do the work with machinery, it’s something I can budget for, within reason.

First picture shows the slope down to the shed, with the foot of woodchip mountain on the left. Second picture is at the bottom, where the roots of the wild cherry tree are stabilizing a bit of a hollow (red circle) that is currently filled about 2 feet deep with mulched leaves. (I don’t lack for browns in my compost.) That’s my neighbor’s house in the background. He loves all the leaves from my yard, let me tell you.

So, what would you do?

Finally snuck up on one during the day (usually run off by the dog, and usually out at night).

These guys eat centipedes and scorpions among other things (redheaded centipedes are fkn scary). They dig where there is soil life and moisture, so I throw seeds where they dig and have grown many plants that way.

Someone just came by my house to sell pest control services. I really haven’t thought much about pest control since I moved into this house about a year ago. I sent him away after a discussion because I am not comfortable with using any pesticides. He treats against all sorts of pests from rodents, to wasps & hornets to ants and spiders.

Ants never bothered me but I know some of them can cause wood/structural damage if left alone. Spiders creep me out but I prefer to leave them alone. We get some decent sized wolf spiders, I see a lot out in the yard but rarely see them in the house. (Although I had a horror movie scene several weeks back – I went into the basement shower after being outside but I hadn’t used the shower over the winter and I shook the curtain to remove excess water a spider fell out right next to my feet…)

Anyways the guy showed me some small ant hills in the walkway and a possibly developing hornet nest on an eave and there are some small wasp nests under the light fixtures on the front porch. Even last year I see them flying around and poking around but never to the point of being a bother. He told me that once they get under the fixtures or the eaves they will try to get into the walls of the house and then they become an expensive issue.

I’m not one to immediately jump to the first solution to a problem that I wasn’t really even aware of. I wanted to ask you all here on your thoughts on the topic. I explained to the pest control guy that while I don’t mind keeping bugs out of the house I don’t want to use anything that would affect bugs outside or get into the ground water or nearby wetlands. He says he uses only the safest products but “safest” is a relative term and I don’t have enough knowledge to judge what is safe or not. Spraying stuff around the foundation, swapping the eaves and lights and laying out “granules” for the ants seems like something that could damage the bugs outside and impact other critters like birds and frogs.

But I am also a fairly new homeowner and i don’t want to neglect possible issues with wasps, hornets or ants that could cause problems later.