I’ve heard you all talking a lot about getting a soil test. How do I do that? WG

Getting a soil test is one of the best things you can do for your garden. The basic soil test will tell you the nutrient levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. In addition, you will find out the pH of your soil. Know these current levels gives you a starting place to know what you need to do to help improve your growing environment. And sometimes, you find out that you don’t need to add some of the supplements you have been adding.

If you are interested in your vegetable garden, azalea bed, lawn or whatever, you’ll need to collect samples from those areas. Once you decide on the area you want tested, it’s time to gather up some soil. This can be done with a special tool you can check out from our office or just use a garden trowel or bulb planter. Bulb planters work great.

To get your sample, you’ll need to get some soil from about 20 locations in the sample area. To do this dig down 6 inches for each sample because the test is calibrated for a depth of 6 inches. As you get each sample, deposit that sample in a single bucket. After you have gathered up all 20, remove any sticks or debris and stir up the samples in the bucket to mix them well. Then fill something the size of a sandwich bag with your mixed-up sample and bring that to the Tulsa County OSU Extension.

We will send the sample to OSU for testing, and you should have your results back in about 2 weeks. Your results will not only tell you the levels of the nutrients we mentioned but it will also make recommendations on what to do to improve your soil.

In most situations, people find out that they probably have sufficient levels of one or more of the primary nutrients. If you already have enough of a particular nutrient, adding more doesn’t improve the situation and in some cases actually works against you in your lawn or garden.

Ultimately, this can save you some money. For example. Assume your soil test revealed that your soil had sufficient levels of phosphorus and potassium but you needed nitrogen. Nitrogen can be purchased in the form of Urea which is much cheaper than fertilizer containing all three ingredients. Last time I checked you can get a 50-pound bag of Urea (which is 50% nitrogen) for between $20 and $30. In many cases, that single bag can meet your fertilizer needs for at least a year. With the soil test costing $10, you are already saving money.

We recommend you test your soil every three years to stay on top of nutrient levels. Just bring your soil sample and $10 to our office at 4116 E. 15^th Street Monday through Friday between 8:30 and 4:30. Good luck!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org.Photo: Tom Ingram