GrubEX is 25% off on Amazon right now.

I`ve been using Imidacloprid 2F Insecticide for the past 4 years with great success. It only cost a fraction of what it cost to used granular Grub Ex.
https://www.solutionsstores.com/imidacloprid-2f-insecticide

I like to do a soil drench of Imidacloprid on my mini crepe myrtles or anything that gets scale, aphids or leaf hoppers. Works great. I like GrubEx for army worm control. I can put it down late April and know I'm good for the year if we get an outbreak of them. Sometimes Amazon will run it for $15-16 a bag in the offseason.

I have two crepe myrtles (one is pretty big) but I have never noticed bugs on them.

My mini's and 3 big ones that bloom a dark pink get hammered with aphid and scale. My mini's were on the struggle bus a few years ago and a Imidacloprid drench made a world of difference. I have a bigger white blooming one in the back that I have not treated and it seems to do good. Though I have not looked at it much as I hate where it is and don't care about it and just can't bring myself to cut it down yet. I get about 1.5 years of effectiveness out of a drench before I have to reapply.

My small one is RED. Most I see are dark pink, white, light pink, or purple. My big one is pink.

Picture was taken late afternoon when the sun was low.

What granular would y’all put down for a crabgrass and bluegrass infested yard? One of my buddies didn’t put pre down and it’s taken over his yard. Would fertilome weed free zone work or does that just tackle broadleafs?

He's not seeing crab. Too early for that as it only returns via seed. He most likely is seeing Rescue grass and Dallis is awake. Dallis goes dormant and the mother plant returns. If you can get a pic that would be great. And Poa/Annual Bluegrass is banging right now. And to be honest there are not any good over the counter options besides 41% gly. He needs to find a good spray and pray company that will come out with some high end chems and do a cleanup for him. Or he can just deal with it as those weeds will be dying of in the next month or so as it warms up. I'd bag any mowings to collect seed heads until it dies off. You will see products like Image with Poa on the front of the bottle. Image does work but should have been applied a month plus ago. Even the label mentions not to use it during the transition from dormant to green which we are in now. But nobody read labels lol. He needs to get a pre emergent out now and watered in. A good fall pre emergent is key for poa and rescue.

Stonewall in February did zero for my rescue grass issue today. I must have done it wrong. I am run over with it (not just in my garden) this year. It all came up in the last three weeks. I decided to wait for the grass to fully come in to do anything now as if I kill the rescue now, the grass won't grow there either. Poa annua doesn't bother me in the least. It gets choked out by grass quickly and pulls from the garden with ease. Rescue grass is my pain.

February app of Stonewall/Prodiamine won't do anything for Poa/Rescue prevention. That is where your August/September app comes in for prevention of winter weeds. I use only Prodiamine on my neighbors with great results. There is a newer pre on the market with the active ingredient Indaziflam. That is a very high end herbicide and what a good spray and pray company would use in the fall. It is not a pre I would use in the spring. Not to go into too many details but it is a hard core root pruner and I would only use it in the fall. It is the same active ingredient that I use but I spray it. I apply it late September to early/mid October. I do not have a single piece of Poa or Rescue since I started using it a few years ago. I like it in the fall and Prodiamine in the spring. This is sold at Lowes and Depot. I haven't mentioned Indaziflam before because I have not seen it at the retail level yet. I am going to test this granular this fall on a couple of buddies lawns that have a lot of poa and rescue pressure.

https://images.salsify.com/image/upload/s--X7ekxs-A--/p9c03mnwijdg0pqlzadu

I put Stonewall down in August too...February this year and August of 2024.

I have no dollarweed, dandelion, or clover whatsoever. Recuesgrass is my issue for sure. Celcius WG is labelled to kill it and I have that so I will spray my concoction of Image, Celcius, and surfactant as soon as the grass comes in a little more. Guess I could leave the Image out for now.

This might be the time to recommend a battery operated sprayer because I am not going to want to use my manual one on my whole yard. I bought it for spot treatments but I need to spray the entire thing this time.

Lots of ways to approach this GasG. Depends on how lawn serious you are but if you're thinking about going full throttle then battery operated is the way. Blanket applications of applications of XYZ product is almost always the way to go. You can go Ryobi and I have 2. The first bulky design I have still works fine and I have it dedicated to flowerbeds. I was gifted the newer slim design and I got 2 years out of it and the pump crapped out past fall and not a lot of parts available for it. I broke it down some and not spent a lot of time on it. I think I had/have a tank leak issue with it and shorting the electrical. Not sure yet. And I use it A LOT. I broke down and bought a My4Son. $260ish delivered. I have only used it twice so far and it's been perfect. I'm not against starting with the Ryobi as it's on sale a lot at a good price and the wand takes drop in TeeJet tips which is what you want. I'm a big fan or spraying if you're a residential nerd. Nerd is the key there. If you're not welling to weigh and spray per 1000sq ft properly, I'd probably not do it. The majority of what you spray is not willy niley and needs to be precisely measured out. The last couple/few sentences were nor directed at you GG or anyone direct. General statement.

Greening up pretty good after the scalp 2-3 weeks ago.

Mine looked greener before I mowed it today. Some places already growing an inch per week and no fertilizer yet. Scalped it almost 2 months ago when it was about 85 degrees for several days. Called 2 dirt contractors about masonry sand to level up some low spots and settling from irrigations lines when we built in 2017. No one willing to deliver less than 10 yards of Brick Sand / Masonry Sand that meets ASTM C33 specifications for uniform application and consistency. 670 bucks delivered from one person still waiting on a price from the other. Had planned on doing this last year until my grandson had complications from numerous blood clots in April and spent 6 weeks in SWMC in Dallas and then back for another 6 weeks for a heart transplant in mid-September until November 1.

Hey Derek, I`m wondering if it would be OK to cut the big shrubs in the front of the house back about 50%. My son has the same shrubs, but he trims his back every year. His are about 4X4X4. I have never trimmed these.

Yeah I would time them back as much as you want. Don't be scared to give shrubs a good wackin.

Thanks Derek. That`s what I'll do then. I just got some new hedge shears and an almost new Dewalt 12" - 20V chainsaw that is just the right size for the job. They are full of blooms and honeybees right now, so I`ll have to wait a while for mother nature to run its course.