Writer Eve Kelley of the San Diego Reader contacted UC Cooperative Extension horticulture advisor Vincent Lazaneo when she was bent on a conducting a soil text to diagnose her garden failure. “When someone tells me they want to have their soil tested, I first ask, ‘Why?’” Lazaneo said. The UC advisor suggested some alternate approaches for getting a garden to grow, gave reasons gardeners would resort to a soil test and explained how to collect samples.

If you decide to submit your sample to a lab, Lazaneo told the reporter, “Make sure they will provide an interpretation of the results. A number, just by itself, doesn’t really tell you anything. It can vary, depending on what substance the lab used to extract the various nutrients from the soil.”