Soil Testing

To determine the health of your soil, you can test it for its nutrient content and for contamination.

All county Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service offices provide soil testing services for a reasonable fee or it may be free. Please find your local office for more information - http://extension.ca.uky.edu/county

How to prepare a sample

They need 2 cups of dry soil, and it can be brought to the office in any clean container.

Click here for soil sampling best practices. 

You will want a representative, random sample from the area you are interested in testing. Sample gardens, lawns, and landscaped areas separately. Collect cores randomly from each area. The area to sample for trees includes the soil below the width of the tree. For shrubs, flower beds, and gardens, sample just the soil where the plants are growing. You should sample problem areas and areas with shrubs, trees, or flower beds separately from other turf or lawn areas. 

Do not sample:

• compost areas,

• under the drip-line of trees, and

• close to driveways or streets.

Although fertilizer, lime, and other amendments can be very helpful in establishing happy, healthy plants and lawns, they pose a risk if not used properly. Excess fertilizer and chemicals wash away with rainwater and pollute our local streams and waterways. The first guideline of responsible fertilizer application is to take a soil sample and have it analyzed to determine fertilizer needs.