I recently had one done and the landscaper wanted $40 for one sample. Is this reasonable? Seems kind of high to me. I would think I should be able to send out my own samples for around $20. I also noticed that the landscaper had two samples from his lawn done at the same time. I kind of think I may have paid for his.

FYI, I am in NY, so any local recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks.

University of Massachusetts Amherst will do it a lot cheaper than $40 and probably give you better answers. Click here for more information

Andy has the one for Logan Labs, I'm sure (I don't yet). They'll be a whisper more expensive, but perhaps the better choice.

NY used to subsidize Cornell to do their testing. They have outsourced it in the past couple of years although Cornell still supposedly provides the analysis (although not the actual lab work).

As subsidies have fallen, both Cornell's (first) and UMASS's (later) results have become less reliable and sometimes just plain wrong, and they refuse to discuss it.

The NY soil test actually costs between $10 - $15, depending on the options selected. UMASS is $13 for the test we recommend. Logan Labs (a private lab that does a nice job for the US and Canada) is $20, but in the next few days Bestlawn.info will have a discount that makes it $16. Logan Labs can be linked to at Logan Labs LLC.

tlh222 wrote:I recently had one done and the landscaper wanted $40 for one sample. Is this reasonable? Seems kind of high to me. I would think I should be able to send out my own samples for around $20.

Are you thinking that if you can do it for $20 then he should be able to do it for $20? That is not how business works. He is offering his time to provide a service that he is probably pretty good at. Considering plumbers and electricians get $120 per hour, I would say $40 is a very reasonable amount for him to do the job. If you want to save the $40, then do it yourself. You will have to figure out how to collect the sample, take your time to collect it, package it, send it in, and interpret the results. We can explain how to collect the sample but we can't collect it and mail it for you. And we can help interpret the analysis for you, but it still takes your time to come here and do all that. It all depends on whether you consider lawn care a hobby your or a chore. If it is a hobby you want to know more about (or you don't have the disposable income), then figure it all out and do it yourself. We can help with every step. If it is a chore (and you have the disposable income), then pay the man to do it for you.

I also noticed that the landscaper had two samples from his lawn done at the same time. I kind of think I may have paid for his.

You are also paying for his accountant, advertising, gas, boat, health insurance, his car, and his kids to go to college.

Another possibility is that he uses samples from his own yard as standards to test the results from the laboratory. There has been some discussion on bestlawn.info about weird test results from some of the test labs. If you don't have a reference point, you can't really know how good the test is. I once sent in a sample from my compost pile, pure compost. The result came back saying it had too much calcium and needed more organic matter. Clearly the test was wrong (if they even did a test). If your landscaper sent in samples where he knew the results and those came back looking funny, he could tell you that the results from your test are not to be believed. He could possible get a free retest by showing the lab the results of his current test and previous tests.

I simply asked if it was reasonable. I did not need a dissertation on what it costs to run a business. I am fully aware as I own one myself. Again, all I asked is if it was a reasonable price. Seemed high to me, even a novice. And I did state that I was completely willing to do the grunt work myself if it made sense. And it appears as though it does. For $13 I can get the same report, probably better. So, it cost me $40 to get a $13 test done. Sounds as though I was right on the mark thinking this was on the expensive side.

Was the purpose of your post to come on here and help someone out, or to try and belittle a newbie? Maybe it was to come across as a complete a$$. If that's the case, then you succeeded!

after getting the results of my first ever soil test back from the Univ. Mo., I've been reading about soil tests here on BL and doing googles for specific things. then I got a test at UMass and continued reading. Andy could write a book about soil tests and testing, hmmm, wish he would. if the money for research was available, wouldn't it be interesting to run some tests on soil test labs.
reading the "get a sample" info from various labs, that's minimal grunt work, mere childs play. the work and the big bucks come, after the results are back. "I need how many cu. yds. of what!?"

(PS-- don't take it personal, them guys from Tx. always pick on Yankees, hehehehehehe.)

TLH:

I've known David for quite a while, and he's probably just about the last person that would try to make an a$$ out of anyone. After a little while here, you'll realize how refreshing it really is to get real, detailed, honest answers from some of the top amateurs in the country - who aren't trying to sell you anything. Almost all of them are here, and almost all for the same reason - they got tired of behind-the-scenes string-pulling at other sites. David is probably THE amateur guru in the country on Watering properly and getting soils leveled well. I've seen him spend what had to be two hours answering a single question in detail, and all for free. And the bottom line is that he's right - its really a question of whether the extra $27 is worth it to you or not. It doesn't sound like it is to you - fine! Let's get those soil test results and see if there's more than dirt in your personal piece of this big ball of dirt.

C&C:

A book ain't ever gonna happen. I'm trying to push everything I know into the analysis module of the myBestlawn site. After all the years, even I don't really know how my collection of soil spreadsheets work anymore. The advantage of putting it all up on a website is that the analysis software can make predictions and then see the next soil test to determine if the predictions were accurate. Then I can adapt it to get better. You thought the automatic analysis was just for the users, eh? Hahaha. I'm gonna steal your data.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, tlh. I don't know you and you don't know me, so that's how things happen. Now I know a little more about you and you know a little more about me.

I have been criticized many a time for writing an essay when a sentence would do. I responded to a question you did not ask. From my years on lawn forums, I see your question asked together with the one you did not ask all the time. I jumped the gun and answered the second one.