Crape myrtles and aphids go hand in hand in the south. As a matter of fact, there is a crape myrtle aphid! Since you used the words 'older' to describe your crape myrtles, I wonder about their age. The older seedling varieties are very prone to aphid infestation (and black sooty mold) as well as powdery mildew. You can certainly help prevent a major infestation for next year by using insecticidal soap applications now, and a hitting them a couple of times over the winter with horticultural oil. Be sure to soak all of the branches and stems with the soil spray. In my opinion, those are the two pest control products you should probably have, anyway. Crape myrtles are awfully forgiving plants, so I'd suggest that something about your soil system might be challenging them. Does it drain well? Is it severely compacted? What's your pH? Were you able to water during the worst of the drought? (Healthy, well-established crapes can take a drought.) The single most helpful thing you can do for your crapes is to establish a good sized mulch ring around them. Give them as much space as you can (imagine where the root system might be) and apply 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch (chips or pine straw). You might be amazed at the recovery of your trees, just by providing them with a good mulched area.

My hands. I can get most weeds up with a quick pull. Those tap-rooted weeds are tougher, of course - *#@! dandelions. Best time to get the dandelions is after a good soaking rain or deep watering. I normally take a narrow trowel and dig straight down next to the crown, then gently wiggle the root straight up and out with my hand - normally will pull out fairly easily if the ground is really moist. I also have the Weed Queen (or is it Weed Hound) thingie for dandelions, which works better in the lawn - stick it straight down over the crown, give it a twist, and the dandelion should come out. For sidewalk/cement crevices, I like that pavement weeder thingie, but again - I try to use it after a good rain, the weeds will slide/scrape out much more easily.

Good idea on the winter sowing. I was stunned with my great results last year at growing all those perennials I could never grow or paid too much for. I even cut a delphinium bloom here in Missouri in November! My seed order should be here any day for winter sowing; however, for direct sowing, I enjoy cosmos and Benary's zinnias for many blooms in mid to late summer. I noticed that this site no longer has the history it used to have. I picked up many good ideas from some of those older posts. Teresa

Hello Tin The easiest way to prevent insect damage in your garden is to discourage them from coming in the first place. A healthy garden is the best defense. Pull out any weak plants.They may already be infected. If not, they will attract predators. Pull the plant and dispose of it away from the garden area. Build healthy, organic soil.Natural composting methods, mulching and top-dressing your soil with compost or natural fertilizer is the best way to develop strong, vigorous plants. Keep foliage dry. Water early so foliage will be dry for most of the day. Wet foliage encourages insect and fungal damage to your plants. See our page on drip-irrigation for methods of delivering water to the root systems without wetting the foliage. Disinfect. If you've been working with infested plants, clean your tools before moving on to other garden areas. This will reduce the speed of invading insects. Hope it helps! :)