Soil sampling in Georgia

managing lawn.

Right now, most of the samples received at the office are for home vegetable gardens. The results in this situation will be based on growing vegetables and will base recommendations on light, medium or heavy feeding vegetable groups.

The key is taking the samples properly by using the right procedure, using the right equipment and also sampling at the correct depths for your situation. I will be sharing information from a UGA circular by Leticia Sonon and David Kissel, UGA Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories.

Again, why do you need to sample? I gave you the short answer of it taking out the guesswork. I mean, how many times do you go to the store to buy lime or fertilizer and you just a fescue don’t know how much lime to purchase or what fertilizer to buy? How many pounds do you need? Yes, you can find a general recommendation online or in a publication at times, but a soil test will provide you recommendations on the soil you own or the land you are renting. A more in depth answer is soil testing will help you develop and maintain a productive soil. Soil testing will give you the soil’s actual nutrient status. These results will then be used to give recommendations on what needs to be added to make the soil productive for your activity.

Soils can be tested any time of year, but we suggest to allow enough time for application. Keep in mind that lime reacts slowly with the soil to improve soil pH. Ideally, lime is mixed with the soil 2-3 months prior to planting. We suggest sampling every 2-3 years in a lawn or ornamental situation once you get fertility levels in the medium to high range. We suggest sampling vegetable garden spots every 1- 2 years. Most folks are surprised on the turnaround time for results. We normally mail samples 2-3 times per week depending on the time of year. We normally will get results back in 5- 6 working days.

Keep in mind the importance of conducting a sampling procedure months prior to the activity. Again, this is not due to the slow lab response, but due to the potential for a low soil pH that will require lime.

We tend to be low soil pH or more acidic in our area. When pH is low, the roots of your plants, for example, will not as efficiently use the fertilizer you provide. For most items, we try to keep a soil pH in the 6.0 to 6.5 range. Early can be better in conducting a soil sampling procedure.

To collect samples, you will need a clean sampling tool such as a trowel, shovel or probe. We do have soil probes that can be borrowed by clients. You will need a clean plastic bucket or container for the samples.

For this article, let us use a fescue lawn for an example. In a zigzag approach, you will need to go back and forth across the lawn and randomly stop ten times to take a sample. Sampling depth for a lawn is 4 inches. If this was a garden, ornamental spot, wildlife plot or a fruit tree area, the sampling depth is 6 inches. If using a soil probe, you would just push the probe in the ground to that depth and then put each collected plug in your container. If you are using a shovel for example, push the tool in the ground to the correct depth. Push the handle forward with the tool in the ground to make a wide opening. Then you would cut a thin slice from the side of the opening that is ¼ inch thick, 2 inches wide and from the top of the ground to the depth of the cut which would be 4 inches long in this situation. Mix the collected samples together and then we will need one pint of the mixed soil for transfer to official soil sample bags.

With all of the wet weather, the collected soils may be too wet to go straight into the bags. We suggest air drying collected soil on a flat surface lined with white paper overnight before bringing into the office. The cost of mailing a sample to the lab is $9 per sample.

For more information, contact UGA Extension- Gordon County at 706-629-8685 or email gbowman@ uga.edu.