Speaker: Culinary Herbs & Techniques & Soil Testing Opportunity

How to Take a Soil Sample for pH Testing

Taking a soil sample for pH testing is easy:

(1) Identify the area(s) of your property you want to test: Different areas may have different pH levels, e.g., lawn vs. flower bed vs. vegetable garden. To submit different areas for testing, collect separate samples. Within a given area, if there are sections that are sickly vs. healthy, they should also be sampled and labeled separately (e.g., sickly vs. healthy sections of lawn).

(2)    Gather your supplies:

·    A spade, shovel, soil probe, or augur for digging your sample(s)

·    One small clean bucket for each area you plan to sample (e.g., one bucket for the lawn, a separate bucket for your flower bed)

·    One small plastic bag for each area to be sampled

(3)    Dig your soil sample(s):

• ·    Step A: Depending on how large the area is, dig 5-10 holes approx. 6-8” deep for gardens (4-6” deep for lawns; 8-10” deep for trees/ shrubs); remove a sample of the soil all the way down to the depth of the hole; in other words, collect soil from the top, the middle and the bottom of the hole.
• ·    Step B: Combine all soil samples from the same area in a clean bucket. Mix thoroughly and remove stones, sticks or other debris.
• ·    Step C: Let the soil dry out for a few days in the bucket. 
• ·    Step D: Put approx. 1/2 cup of dry soil into a plastic bag. Mark the bag with your name and the area of your property where the sample was taken (e.g., lawn, rhododendron bed).
• ·    If you want to sample additional areas of your property, repeat Steps A-B-C-D above.

(4)    Bring your sample(s) to the Master Gardener Soil pH Test table at one of our free events. (See web site for schedule.)