How To Take A Soil Sample

Assessing the pH and nutrient levels of your soil can help you manage problematic lawns better and help you to maintain your lawn.

There are 2 options on how you can test your soil:

  • Use at home soil test kit
  • Send soil sample to your local agricultural college

Soil Testing Kits For Home Use:

We now keep in stock easy to use soil testing kits.  They have the reagents for testing pH, Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus.  They only require a small soil sample to mix with the reagents.  The kit has a full set of instructions and indicator sheets to identify the pH, N, P & K levels in your soil.  It can do up to 40 tests.  Soil testing kits are availble via this link: Soil Testing Kit

Agricultural College Soil Testing:

You can find you local agricultural college online and drop off a soil sample for them to analyse.  They will be able to determine the pH, P & K levels in your soil.  Ask about N levels, not all colleges include this in a basic soil sample analysis.  They will need around 300g of uncontaminted soil to anaylse. Here is how to collect your sample:

  • Get a desertspoon from the dishwasher and a large food freezer bag.
  • Only touch the handle of the spoon and the outside of the bag
  • With the spoon dig down 5-7.5cm (2-3") below the surface of your lawn
  • Take a small sample and put it straight into the freezer bag.
  • Do Not Touch The Soil With Your Hands
  • Carry on doing this across your lawn in a W shape until you have around 300g of soil from that lawn.
  • If you are sending  samples of multiply lawns please bag soil from each lawn separatly. It can amaze you the diffrence in soil types and nutrient levels between a front and back lawn.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us on 01259 760400.