 It's common knowledge that some form of fertilization is usually needed to maintain a healthy lawn. Unfortunately, without guidance, much of the time and money spent doing it goes to waste. Outside of the environmental concerns, improper fertilization can lead to poor quality turf. The first step to giving your lawn the nutrients it needs to thrive is to perform a soil test. All too often, this important step is left out. Without a test, you'll only be guessing at which nutrients your turf grass needs. A soil test can also help you determine fertility shortfalls, which may be a precursor to disease or pest infestations. The nutrients and amendments your soil needs will vary based on your geographic location, but the sampling process is fairly standard. For purposes of illustration, our example will be typical for the southwest region of the US. To get started, you'll want to take 10 to 15 subsamples from various spots around the yard using either a soil probe or a trowel. These will later be combined to create the samples you'll send into the lab. If you have fertilized recently, wait a couple of weeks before taking your samples. Be sure your sample is complete, including soil from the surface to about a depth of 4-6 inches. Also, make sure to remove the grass blades as they contain nutrients that may skew test results. To prevent possible contamination, place your samples into a clean, non-metallic container like a plastic bucket and then blend them all together. If your sample is wet, allow the soil to dry before bagging. Think about two cups of the blended material and place them into a paper or plastic bag, and then you'll want to bring that sample into your local Ewing branch and will send it off to the lab for you. Depending on your location, the cost of the soil test may vary. Considering how much money is spent on caring for a typical lawn, the cost of a soil test is a small price to pay to ensure that you're using the right nutrients for the job. The lab will determine and report back the soil's organic matter content, major and minor nutrients, as well as pH and salt levels. With local Ewing turf specialists, we'll use this information to determine a year-long fertilization schedule tailored to the amendment and nutrient needs of the sampled soil. In this example report, we can see that soil was low in nitrogen and needs to have about 3.2 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. A simple soil test can go a long way towards helping you maintain a healthy lawn. For more information, stop until your local Ewing branch and one of our service professionals will be more than happy to help.