Himalayan Balsam

I have an exploding plant in the garden. It is probably best to get rid of it but it is quite attractive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_Balsam

Lovely looking plant but an absolute nightmare to get rid of once its established :0)

You need to get rid of it before it seeds. Otherwise when you pull it out the seeds get thrown around, making the problem worse. Get rid as soon as you see it. Most pesticides will take three or four hits to knock it totally back.

There seems to be quite a lot of hysteria from the Environment Police about exotic alien species like this lovely plant, when Highland Council have done absolutely nothing about the increasingly huge clump of Japanese Knotweed growing next to the A9 bridge in Thurso. This stuff is known to eat into concrete and destroy buildings - it managed to fell a neighbour's garage when I lived in the southeast. Some mortgage companies have refused mortgages on properties with this stuff in the garden. I asked Highland Council about this several years ago and was told they were "developing a policy". The policy appears to consist of sitting and watching until the bridge falls down, where it will be the Highways Agency problem (and budget).

Well if there's Japanese knotweed around your house then its an expensive clean up and mortgage lenders would turn you down without batting an eyelid due to the structural damage which it can cause. The people to report it to please email invasivespecies@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

No, I haven't got this on my property at the minute but who knows how it spreads, or how far. My point was that we, as gardeners, continue to be hassled by government departments about stuff they do absolutely nothing about themselves.
If it does appear at some point, I will know who to blame, including the local councillors I emailed 3 years ago about the subject and am still waiting to hear from.

Agree with you Humerous vegetable - Japanese Knotweed is so invasive but many councils are ignoring dealing with the problem. Ragwort is a very poisonous weed and should be eradicated but do the councils bother to cut or clean the verges where much of the ragwort grows and from there spreads? Think we already know the answers

O how i hate Ragwort. When i was farming many a day was spent pulling up this invasive weed. I was lead to believe it was a legal requirement to keep it in check on your land. We can thank the railways for the spread of this lovely plant lolol

I hear to what you are saying but it is possible to eradicate balsam given enough manpower and organisation.