If Japanese knotweed has invaded your garden, it is likely you have tried ­everything short of a nuclear holocaust to get rid of it.

But one gardening expert claims to have the key to taming the unwanted plant without resorting to chemicals or putting your house up for sale: eating it.

Despairing home owners should stop laying down weedkiller and ­instead create some tasty knotweed recipes, advises Alys Fowler.

“Japanese knotweed is edible. In ­Japan it is a delicacy,” she said.

“It’s very delicious. You really have to make sure you’re eating it from a source that doesn’t have any herbicide on it because clearly that’s problematic. But, oh my God, eat it. Eat it into submission. It’s very easy to eat Japanese knotweed into ­submission.”