Soil Testing

BSH yardWhat You Put On Your Lawn Matters!

You can keep your lawn green and clean while protecting our natural habitat and promoting cleaner waterways. Test, Don't Guess!

Soil Test

A soil test will evaluate your soil’s nutrient potential and determine the most beneficial application rates of fertilizer and lime for plant growth. With this information you will be ready to apply the necessary rates of fertilizer and lime to achieve optimum growth of your lawn, garden, or landscape trees and shrubs without over fertilizing and causing excess runoff when it rains and polluting Norfolk’s rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.

You can pick up a soil test kit at a garden store or your local Virginia Cooperative Extension Office.

Norfolk office location:
830 Southhampton Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23510
Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The soil test lab will provide you with information on the availability of nutrients in your soil. The routine soil test costs around $10. The test measures and makes recommendations for the following major nutrients: P (phosphorus); K (potassium); Ca (Calcium); Mg (Magnesium) and five micronutrients.


There are thousands of lawns in Norfolk and the pollution adds up! Do your part to help save our Bay!