Himalayan balsam in a border?

[lozster]

My neighbour has four plants in a shared lawn and another three of the same type in a side border at the rear if her house - I know this as I water her garden when she is away. At first

... Sorry... At first I thought they were sunflowers but then they grew super fast. I mentioned this to my DH and he commented that he had spoken to the neighbour and they are Himalayan balsam. I recall two team building volunteer days from work spent out at a nature reserve 'balsam bashing'. Please tell me there is some domestic harmless version?

Not that I know of - it is an invasive weed as you know and pings it's seeds out at a violent speed and it very hard to get rid of. We had great fun last summer pinging them far and wide when we discovered some in Matlock.

I have some in my garden border, they are really easy & satisfying to pull up :) I tried getting rid of it all this spring by digging up the grass & border for a vegetable plot but they are still appearing. The bees love it though.

If you keep on top of it then I find it OK to just pull up stalks as & when really.

But did anyone actually choose to have this? Now the neighbourhood is going to be infested!

Sorry - I should have been clear that she planted them out in the borders, they didn't just pop up. If fact, she dug a fresh bed especially for the one out front.