Growing strong, healthy turf requires good planning and hard work. Growing good turf starts before the first seed is planted and continues through the dormancy periods. Timing when to do which step is key. There are a lot of products available that will help you grow turf, but none of them will be effective if you don't plan properly.

Types of Turf Products

Herbicides are anything sold to kill weeds. While you can do spot treatments when you see weeds, the best way to use an herbicide is to apply it at the end of the growing season. This way the herbicide can eliminate weeds when they're still in seed form.

Soil amendments, which are mixed thoroughly with soil before seeds are planted, are vital to turf health. The soil you're growing on is probably not the most ideal soil for your turf. It's probably packed down and depleted of nutrients. A soil amendment can help you to balance out your soil so that you can start building a healthy lawn before you even plant one seed. Soil amendments help alter the soil so that it can retain more or less nutrients and more or less water as needed.

Fertilizers will help you to give your turf the nutrients it needs. Organic fertilizers like fish oil and seaweed contain natural ingredients that are easy on your turf and on the environment. These fertilizers build strong, resilient grasses with an abundance of nitrogen, which is the mineral that causes plants to grow. Peat moss is an organic fertilizer that can also act as a soil amendment. Fertilizers need to be spread only during the growing season. Start fertilizing at the very beginning of the growing season to prevent a weak looking lawn.