As its name suggests, the Indian balsam should actually only be native to the Asian continent. Read how to combat the herb here.
Balsam's spreads very rapidly
Recently it has become increasingly apparent that the plant, which can grow up to two meters tall, is also spreading in our gardens, forests and Widespread in meadows. In the process, even the native flora is pushed back, sometimes completely pushed out of their regular places. The reason for this is that a single balsam plant can produce several thousand seeds and throws them within a radius of up to 7 meters, which of course means that large areas of new balsam spring up and come up with a actually very pretty, pink flower from June to October.
Balsam is very undemanding
Moreover, the Indian balsam, also called glandular balsam, is extremely undemanding. Balsam even grows in semi-shade and in wet areas such as river banks, which makes it even easier to spread, especially since the seeds can germinate for several years. Although balsam is in principle only one of the annual plants!
Indian Balsam - How to fight it
You can prevent balsam from spreading rapidly by keeping the fewest possible number of Indian balsam in your garden keep. Or you can remove the balsam from your garden entirely. Which in turn is also an advantage for the neighboring garden, which may not want this plant at all and still has to reckon with the seeds sprout.
The individual plant stalks should be pulled out of the ground together with the roots, which is easy to do, especially when it is damp. The plants should then be disposed of with the household waste in order to really remove them from the garden permanently. Because the seeds would survive in the compost or the brown bin and spread again.
The balsam is slightly poisonous
Combating the balsam can sometimes even take several years, since the seed, as already mentioned, is capable of germinating for a long timeholds. Balsam is also considered slightly poisonous, which is why children should not come into contact with the plant. And even the usefulness for bees has recently been strongly questioned.