Question from a Westchester Landowner: I'm going to be planting trees, should I do a soil test? Our answer: We don’t think it’s essential because you can tell a lot about the soil when you match the NRCS Web Soil Survey (map of soil types) up to the Westchester/Putnam Soil Survey (info about the soil types). It’s usually good enough for tree planting. But this won’t provide nutrient levels or contaminants; something you might need if you’re planning a garden and concerned about lead/arsenic or other things. Also, the links above are only estimates/approximates. Actual soil conditions may vary. If you are going to invest in trees and shrubs, there are low cost testing options through Westchester CCE. They offer a $10 pH testing service, or you could order pH testing kits from Cornell main campus.