Bayer - Merit 0.5 Granular Systemic Insect Control - 30 Pound Bag

I have used the Merit 0.5g for 3 seasons to control boring insects on my oak, beach and ash trees and if you follow the application instructions, it works very well.I have also used it to control the Hemlock wooly adelgid and it works on those too.I’m about to purchase another bag and decided to write a quick review to let others know that IMO, it’s effective and worth the cost.

I just assumed that as this is a granular product that it was meant to be activated by rainfall and actually laid this out as it was drizzling outside. I only checked after it had turned into a downpour that it wasn't meant to be laid down that way so I was very worried that I did this all for nothing. Additionally, based on the reviews it seemed that I was putting this down way too late (September 20th). Well all I knew was I had very small grubs infesting my entire lawn and that we were expecting more warm weather (daytime weather between 70-80s, nights in the 60s). So I took my chances. Today September 26th I checked the soil. The grubs are all dead with just a few stragglers struggling to move. When exposed to air they just seem to stretch a bit like I disturbed their sleep and then won't burrow down like they normally did. This is very unlike they were before I laid down the Merit, so it is clearly working and working great. I'm very impressed with this product and am leaving this review in case it can help someone else. Thank you!Here we are now in May of 2019 and I just wanted to add a few details. The entire insect life was completely eradicated by this product. I would like to say that I still would have used this product because I live at a NJ home that didn't receive any lawn care for probably 30 years. Lifting just one paver on my lawn would expose about 30 grubs, so I literally felt that I was at ground zero for the Japanese beetle problem. I had skunks, an army of birds, opposums, racoons, you name it digging up my lawn at all hours of the day and night. Now however I am trying to make the soil healthy and know this is unnatural and not good, not to have a single earthworm etc. left over. I can't say with absolute certainty that it was the Merit, it could be that the Tenacity weed killer I've used also contributed to this but be aware that this is a very strong product. Once you get your problem under control or you only have a minor problem, I would choose a product that is less harmful to all the other insects and bees as those bugs are very important to your soil health and if you are growing flowers and/or have a garden.

effective against visible pests. will check grubs later in season

The only reason I am not giving this product five stars is because of the price. It is expensive. It does however seem to do exactly what I was looking for and that is getting rid of bugs in my lawn. I had a ton of spittle bugs in my yard. They would cover my mower when I was mowing. After using the product, they are gone and have continued to stay gone after several months. As a matter of fact, I will probably buy another bag of this for next year. I applied it using a push spreader and followed the recommendations on the bag. This product works.

I have been using Merit for a few years after one year of learning that my brown easy-to-pull-up grass was a result of grubs. Merit fixed that. Then moving into a new home the lawn was green, but I started feeling soft areas in the lawn that were not there when I cut the grass a few times. There were also raised trails and a large patch of soft grass. I learned that I had moles! Moles eat grubs. Merit kills grubs (and other insects you may or may not want). Grubs and moles are now gone!I read reviews claiming Merit didn't work for them. I call that a likely user error. YOU MUST apply Merit at the appropriate time. If you don't, it will not work, or not work as well as it can. It's up to the user to do their homework because every environment/location is different. Watch the weather so you don't end up with it washed away because of too much rainfall. Most importantly, timing matters. You can't get rid of grubs if you apply Merit, or any other product at the wrong time. Don't expect results that you think should work if YOU apply it at the wrong time. Again, don't blame the product for that.

Used this to apply under my Hackberry trees to control insects that cause black mold. I am glad to say that this is the first year without black mold all over everything under the trees. I am planning on using this every year.

We took all of our grass out in our front yard and back and decided to go xeriscape with only laying down leaves so that they eventually mulch into the soil. Well...the leaves are working and the soil is rich but that brought in lots of Japanese beetle grubs and the armadillos/skunks were having at it on our yard both front and back.After spreading granules from this product, it eventually wiped out all the grubs and I have very little (if any at all) armadillos/skunks coming into our yard. I spread this now at least once a year seeing I continue to mulch my yard with leaves from the fall.

The Bayer Merit granular is easy to spread by hand or with a seeder without making a huge mess which was a plus. These grubs were destroying our yard along with the birds and other animals that munched on them. Bare spots in the grass, erroded soil, and mushy ground were some of the problems that arose. We spread the insecticide right before a steady rain, which seemed to be the way to go after reading others reviews. In the weeks to come we noticed less and less destruction. We have been able to patch the bald areas of grass and plan to apply bayer merit again as directed. Great product.