How to Find out your soil’s pH?

You can do a little detective work by observing which native plants are thriving and then confirming that they have a preference one way or another. Or you can run a soil test — use either an inexpensive kit or arrange one of those more-intense tests where you take soil samples from various parts of your yard and mail the dirt in to a lab. The nice thing about doing this more intense test is that the lab report not only tells you the pH (and a few other useful things, like the nutrient levels in your soil) but also gives you specific recommendations on how to improve or alter your soil. Check with your local Cooperative Extension Service — workers there may be able to run the tests for you at a minimal cost.