Learn the importance of soil testing.

Coming up on this edition of Year Round Gardening.

Year round gardening is supported in part by Ace Hardware Hill's Plaza, South State College and South Dorcas Street, Lewistown.

Before getting started on your lawn or garden, you should know a few things first.

Chief among them is your soil.

Knowing how acidic or basic your soil is will determine if lime is needed, as well as fertilizer.

Recommendations.

But how do you do a soil test?

Here are the steps needed to take a soil test properly.

You can purchase a soil testing kit at the Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory at Penn State or at your local extension office.

Each kit costs roughly $10.

Keep in mind that you'll need to perform a separate soil test for your garden if you wish to do so.

You'll want to collect multiple samples of the area you're testing to get as complete a picture as possible of the in your soil.

It's best to zigzag your way through the area and collect samples from 12 to 15 locations.

You can mix all of these samples together in one container.

You can use a garden trowel to collect the samples, but a soil sampling probe or auger are better at collecting the samples.

If collecting samples from your own lawn.

Go 3 to 4 inches deep for your garden and other plants.

Go 6 to 8 inches deep.

Take out any stones, grass or thatch.

Fill out the form that comes with the soil test kit.

Be sure to indicate what it is.

Your growing lawn grasses, vegetable garden, tree fruit, etc.. Add a cup of the soil sample into the pouch and seal according to the directions, then mail it using the free address envelope.

You should receive the results in roughly two weeks.

You can contact your county extension office if you need help interpreting the results.

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