Lawn & Garden

How to Soil Sample for Lawns and Gardens

We strongly recommend following our PDF Guide to get started. Soil Samples can be collected throughout the major part of the year. However, sampling should be avoided during times when the soil is excessively dry or wet.

Sampling soil properly is essential to obtain accurate and representative results for your soil test. Here's a simple step-by-step guide on how to sample soil.

1. Gather Supplies: Gather the necessary tools, including a clean bucket, a trowel or shovel. The clean bucket, trowel or shovel must not be brass, bronze, or galvanized as they may contaminate the sample. In order to mail the sample, soil sample bags and submittal forms will be needed and can be obtained by calling the lab. To expedite the process, a “quart sized Ziploc bag” can be used instead alongside an at-home printed submittal form.
2. Choose Sampling Sites: Identify the areas in your lawn or garden that you want to test. If the area varies in terms of soil type, vegetation, or land use, consider sampling each distinct zone separately.
3. Prepare the Sampling Area: Remove any debris, plants, or mulch from the surface of the soil. You want to collect a sample that represents the topsoil.
4. Collect Samples: Using the trowel or shovel, dig a small hole about 4-6 inches deep for Lawns and Gardens, or 6-8 inches for shrubbery and trees under their drip line. For lawns and gardens, collect soil from multiple spots in a zigzag pattern to create a composite sample. Repeat 10-15 times in a zigzag fashion within each sampling area.
5. Fill Sample Bag: Fill the plastic Ziploc or Waypoint Analytical bag with the mixed soil. For A17 or AO5 packages, provide 1 quart of soil. For the S3M package, send 1 pint of soil.
6. Label the Sample: Write down the sample location or identifier on the bag. It's best to use a pen or Sharpie so that it won’t rub off or smear, becoming difficult to read. This is crucial if you're testing multiple areas.

7. Complete Submission: This is one of the most important steps in taking and submitting a soil sample. If not completed properly, this may delay the results or lead to the wrong recommendations! In order to get the best experience, it’s important that make sure your name, address and phone number are legible. If you would like to receive your results by email you need to also include your email.

   • For payment at our California locations, please call your local office.
   • For payment at our other locations, you can include a check, or write your credit card number on the form.

   After getting your personal information on the form, the next step is to fill in the Sample ID. As previously mentioned, it is important you pick an ID that will help you remember where the sample came from e.g. Front yard, Back vegetable garden etc. Make sure that the ID on the form matches the ID on the bag.

   As far as choosing a test, the A17 package is a general test that addresses concern for many California and SW USA clients. The S3M package is more suited for areas where water quality, salinity and high pHs are not a concern. Therefore, the S3M package will be more appropriate east of the Mississippi River and other non-calcareous, high pH soils.

   AO5-2, A17, and AO5 from our California location are data only. If you require recommendations, these can be provided and are customized specifically for your situation, but do incur an additional cost. S3M packages provided at our other locations only include general recommendations. If you do require recommendations, please indicate the crop on the submittal form e.g. existing lawn, new installation, trees, shrubs, groundcover, vegetable garden etc.

8. Mail the Sample: Seal the bag tightly and ship to the designated soil testing lab via FedEx or UPS. US Postal Service may also be used if preferred. Be sure to follow any specific instructions for submission and shipping.
9. Wait for Results: Depending on the time for samples to arrive at the lab if shipped and which lab/methods are requested, it may take a few days to a week to receive your soil test results. Once you have the results, you can interpret them and plan your soil amendments accordingly.

Remember, the accuracy of your soil test results depends on the proper sampling technique. Taking samples from representative areas, avoiding contamination, and following instructions provided by the testing lab are essential steps in obtaining reliable information about your soil's composition and health.