Why should you sample your soil?
A soil test can provide you information on the proper amount of lime and fertilizer you should apply to your lawn, garden and other areas of your landscape.

It is very important to apply only as much lime and fertilizer as is needed for proper plant growth. Over application of fertilizers is the main cause of nutrient runoff which pollutes our rivers, lakes, and drinking water.

Not only will sampling help to reduce pollution but applying the right amount of fertilizer will maximize plant health and save you money. Soil testing can also be used to diagnose common nutrient deficiencies or soil toxicities in areas where plants are growing poorly.

Where you should sample your soil
Where you sample depends on your yard. First divide the yard into sections by how they are used. Lawn, garden, flower beds should each be sampled separately.

Next determine if the area you are sampling (lawn for example) is uniform. Are there differences in soil color (light or dark), soil texture (sandy or clay), are there hill tops or low poorly draining areas? If there are, then it will be best to group the like areas together and take samples from each area.

Take samples from similar areas of your lawn and garden. photo Virginia Cooperative Extension

Do you have any areas of your lawn, garden, or flowerbeds that are not growing properly? If one area of your landscape seems healthy and another area has bare or unhealthy plants, soil sampling may help to diagnose the problem.

Before sampling the poor growth area, be sure to first rule out that you are not over watering, under watering, or have diseases and/or insects.

Areas of poor growth that are large enough to manage separately should be sampled separately. You can compare sampled areas of good growth to the samples of the poor growing areas to pinpoint the trouble.

Where not to sample from
Do not include soil from the lawn area and a garden in the same composite sample. Sample these areas separate. Avoid sampling areas that border sidewalks, low wet spots, buildings, ditches, and pet droppings. Avoid any areas that are not typical of the majority of the sampling area since the atypical area will lead to false results.

When and how often you should sample
Sampling can be done any time when the soil is not frozen or too wet. Samples should be taken yearly and should be taken around the same time every year. For example if you take samples in the spring try and take them every spring.

It is best to sample well in advance of any new planting. This will allow time to get your results back and make the necessary applications of soil amendments and fertilizers.
Soil samples should be done before any new seeding or planting is done.

For established lawns and gardens samples should be taken yearly.

How to sample your soil
At NatraTurf we suggest using a high quality professional soil laboratory. We highly recommend Midwest Laboratories in Omaha, NE. They can have results for you in 3 days from the day they receive your soil. They keep your soil on file for a couple of weeks, so if you have any questions they can run additional testing to pinpoint problems.

Midwest Laboratories also carries a full line of sampling equipment  they can ship you.

Midwest Labs has a great program for lawns and gardens

The cost is $30 per sample, included in that cost is the lab work, bags for sample submittal, and return paid shipping address to send the sample to the lab. Use Coupon code Grass for $5 off your sample!

Once you’ve received your sampling material from Midwest Laboratories, label the sample bag with your name, address, and YOUR sample identification (lawn, garden, etc.). Keep a record for yourself of the area represented by the sample.

Use a garden trowel, spade, or sampling tube. Scrape away any surface mat of grass, or mulch from the sampling area. Sample the lawn or garden area to the sampling depth indicated below.

1. existing grass - sample 0-3"
2. new grass - sample 0-6"
3. gardens - sample 0-6"
4. trees/shrubs - sample 0-12"

Place the soil sample in a clean plastic bucket or pan. Do not use a metallic container as the metal will affect the sample results. Randomly pick 5 spots from the area you are sampling, being sure to avoid non-uniform area. Mix soil from the 5 sample spots and fill to the line on the sample bag that is sent to you. Send the sample back to the lab.

In 5-7 days you can have your results emailed to you!

Additional Resources

• The South Carolina Master Gardener program has a great video on YouTube on how to collect a soil sample.

• The Virginia Cooperative Extension has one of the best sites on how to sample your yard