Soil Testing Steps:

• Grab your shovel, spade or trowel to open a hole in your landscape area.

  Open a hole with a shovel, spade or trowel from the surface to the proper depth for your landscape area. Set that soil aside. (If you are using a soil probe, insert it into the soil to the proper depth and remove the plug from the ground).

  • Recommended sampling depth: Established lawns: 2-4 inches Vegetable and flower gardens: 6-8 inches (tillage depth) Trees and shrubs: 6 inches
• Take a sample

  With your shovel or trowel remove a 1-inch thick slice from the smooth side of the open hole

• With your sample, create a 2-inch wide and 1-inch thick slice

  With the slice of soil on the blade of the shovel, remove the sides of the slice with a trowel, knife or your hands to create a ribbon of soil 2-inches wide and 1-inch thick of the proper depth.

• Remove any surface grass, litter and rocks, then place in a clean container

  Remove any surface mat of grass, litter and any rocks. Place the soil in a clean plastic container or bucket. If the bucket has been used to hold fertilizer or other chemicals, wash and rinse it thoroughly before using it for soil samples. Even a small amount of lime or fertilizer transferred from the sampling tools to the soil can seriously contaminate the sample and produce inaccurate results.

• Take additional samples

  Take 10 additional soil sub-samples from different locations within each uniform landscape area to make a composite sample. Take the sub-samples in a random manner, such as with a zigzag pattern to minimize the variability that may be present in your sampling area. The larger the area, the more sub-samples you should take.

  • By mixing these sub-samples together, you create the composite sample that will be sent to the soil testing laboratory.
• Mix samples and remove foreign matter

  Thoroughly mix the sub-sample slices or cores. Break up clumps and remove all foreign matter such as roots, stalks, rocks, etc.

• Divide, label and place your samples in containers

  Fill the container from the soil test kit with your sub-sample. Use a different soil kit container for each sub-sample. Make sure to label with the name of the sub-sample it represents (ex. FYARD, BYARD, ROSE, GARDN).