It sounds like your young tree didn't get pollinated because the older tree didn't bloom. Almonds are like peaches if they grow one year they should fruit the next. So the failure to flower is strange. Hopefully it will flower next year. But If I had room I'd be planting a third tree to pollinate the second and replace the first if it continues acting poorly.

You can find better pre-emergents at suppliers like John Deere/ Lesco (they've merged) than the home improvement stores. I agree with dchall, in my own findings granular pre-emergents don't perform as well as the liquid. The field testing that that the manufacturers site (so take that with a grain of salt) suggest that they perform about the same. If you're after grassy weeds, such as crabgrass, dimension is a great pre-em. If you're seeing a lot of both grassy and broadleaf, Prodiamine is a good alternative. The advantage with Prodiamine is that it is much cheaper to manufacture and has a number of generic versions. The 2-4D that Dchall mentioned is definitely a safe alternative in cool-season grasses for broadleaf weeds. Another, if you have trouble with crabgrass this season is Quinclorac. Quinclorac has the major advantage of being safe on Fescue even when it has just been seeded. To my knowledge it is the only herbicide that can boast that. If you mix it with a methylated seed oil, you have a good crabgrass control. The only odd exception is crabgrass that is in the intermediate stage, between newly emerged and mature quinclorac won't give any control during this period. As for the bright green grass, it isn't uncommon when you've been seeding so see color differences. Tiemco is correct about KBG being a dark green when it matures. There is a definite possibility that what you've seeded has come up much darker than what was there before. I ran across this today with a Fescue lawn that I seeded last Fall. The cheaper Fescue that was in the lawn looked much brighter than the cultivars that I used which included Speedway, Davinci and Blackwatch. So it's entirely possible, that the brighter colored grass was a lower quality Fescue, such as K31 that was there before. All the same, make sure that you don't over-do the seeding, which can lead to over-crowding and cause die-back or pythium blight in the up-coming months. Also, it's good to use a blend. There are a number of improved varieties of both bluegrass and fescue on the market today, which offer advantages over the older cultivars. For example, you can buy a mix of thermal blue, which is 10% bluegrass and the other 90% is made up of 3 different Fescue cultivars. It's highly drought tolerant and disease resistant. Either way, good luck and thanks for sharpening our skills with your question.

This all depends on how much work you want to put in and if you have an irrigation system or not. (BTW I also live in NE Ohio) Unlike 10+ years ago, a top rated Turf Type Fescue Mix can be very soft, pretty fine, and a great dark green lawn. The benefits would be that it will take less fertilizer, less water, and it will be more drought tolerant. It will typically stay greener longer in mid summer heat compared to a KBG that will quickly go dormant. If a irrigation system is in place, this is less important. A top rated Kentucky Blue Grass mix will be the ultimate "soft & lush" dark green lawn, but it will need lots of water & fertilizer to keep it that way. The other differences, sometimes debatable, is that the TTTF should be cut fairly higher then the KBG. If you do not have an irrigation system, on that much property, I wouldn't consider a KBG and go with the TTTF. If you don't have an irrigation system, and don't plan on watering regularly, I would def. go with the TTTF but don't expect to have that perfect lawn you describe. ...I would also recommend organic fertilizer. Anyway, here locally, I get my seed from Gales Garden Center who carries Oliger Seed Company out of Akron. http://www.oligerseed.com/products/lawn-seeds/ I would recommend the "Fescue Plus" for a TTTF or either the "Best of the Blues" or "Fresh Start" for a KBG.

They can be pruned into tree like form. At least japanese maple tree like form. I own two tiger eyes. Interesting plants. The spring and summer color is pretty much what you see. Ppl dig them. Under stress some of the lower foliage on mine gives hints of good red fall color but that has not happened yet. Interesting place to have one. I like it. Mine have been growing a couple feet per year. Seem to like growing foliage only on newer growth. Neat fuzzy stems and interesting buds.