P3883

Soil Testing for the Homeowner

Take the guesswork out of liming and fertilizing your landscape. Read on to learn how to take a good soil sample.

Getting a Representative Soil Sample

Soil is highly variable. Hydrangea flowers, like the one pictured here, illustrate how small distances translate to big soil differences. Hydrangea flower color is impacted by soil pH. Acidic soil conditions favor blue flowers, and basic soils contribute to pink flowers. This plant has both blue and pink flowers, indicating a measurable jump in soil pH just in the root zone of one plant. This highlights just how important it is to sample from several locations in the designated area. One scoop of soil does not accurately represent your entire yard.

A single hydrangea flower with pink flowers on the left side and blue flowers on the right.

 

Aerial view of the property showing a house, front yard, backyard, and garden area.
Define the area to be tested: In the picture above, the homeowner divides the property into three different areas. Each area requires its own soil sample container.
Outdoor scene with a large plastic bucket, soil sample container, and soil probe, which is a long, narrow, metal tool for inserting into the ground and extracting soil samples.
Gather the supplies you need: soil probe, spade or shovel, plastic bucket, and sample containers. Containers are available at your local Extension office.
Aerial view of the house and yard from page 1, this time with circles and arrows indicating how to take soil plugs in the front yard. More information in caption.
Collect 15 to 20 different soil plugs from different places in the defined area. Remove vegetation/turf from the ground surface before collecting plugs.
Close-up of a soil probe in the ground. Vegetation and pine needles have been removed from the probe area.
Take soil from the top 4 to 6 inches and place in a plastic bucket.
A plastic buckets half-filled with soil, with a soil probe and soil sample container on top.
Mix all plugs from a designated area together in a plastic bucket.
Soil sample container filled with soil.
Fill a soil collection container with soil from the bucket. Fill it to the fill line and close the container.
Soil sample container showing area for writing name, address, email/phone, and field name or number. The field name or number line has been filled in with the words "front yard."
In addition to the other information on the container, remember to write the sample name (and your name, if desired) on the outside of the container. Clearly write your order number and sample name on each container. Note: This information must match what you enter online.
Soil sample containers showing area for writing name, address, email/phone, and field name or number. These containers have the field names "front yard," "back yard," and "garden."
If you have multiple areas that need sampling, repeat the entire collection process.

Order Online and Ship or Drop Off Locally

Instead of paper forms, all soil samples are registered through an Extension account. The steps to complete this process are on our Soil Testing page.

After registering your soil sample, ship or drop off locally to:

Southern Soil & Plant Lab, LLC.
117 Haley Barbour Parkway
Yazoo City, MS 39194

The information given here is for educational purposes only. References to commercial products, trade names, or suppliers are made with the understanding that no endorsement is implied and that no discrimination against other products or suppliers is intended.

Publication 3883 (POD-06-26)

Reviewed by Brendan Zurweller, PhD, Associate Professor, Plant and Soil Sciences, from a previous revision by Keri Jones, PhD, former Laboratory Coordinator, Soil Testing Lab. Written by Keith Crouse, PhD, Associate Extension Professor (retired).

The Mississippi State University Extension Service is working to ensure all web content is accessible to all users. If you need assistance accessing any of our content, please email the webteam or call 662-325-2262.

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P3883

Soil Testing for the Homeowner

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Mississippi State University Extension Service 130 Bost Drive Mississippi State MS 39762