Question
What tests or test do you recommend for soil testing from cornell? (I'm from LI too.)  They have a standard soil fertility test, standrd ph, high or low range ph tests too.  
Once I have the results what should I look to do at this time of year?   I have moss and weeds in my shaded back yard and some clovers and weeds in the front lawn.  I haven't done anything to the lawn except water it this spring/summer but I just bought the house in the spring so I'm not sure what has been done previously.

Answer
Cornell maintains a Soil Testing Lab at its Suffolk County office in Riverhead to do limited testing:

counties.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/grownet/diagnostic-forms/soiltest.pdf

Nutrient analyses are NOT done on Long Island, but at their Ithaca headquarters.  This is the test that analyses pH, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, etc, plus organic matter content and soluble Salts.  Order the Soil Nutrient Test AND the pH/Salt Test AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY so that you get a perfect, accurate reading.

All kinds of delightful surprises wait in store for you.

While you are waiting, you can do lots of things:

1.  Start a compost pile.  You want one you can get to easily when it snows and is very cold, and it should be enclosed so you don't attract Cats, Deer and/or Raccoons (or worse) through Winter.  It's a place to put your raked up Leaves and Grass clippings, plus vegetable scraps and peelings, orange rinds, Starbucks coffee grounds... Come Spring, your Compost will be under way just as the Tulip Season is ending.  Gold from garbage.

2.  Remove and/or control WEEDS.  Most of your Crabgrass is going to be Annual.  Trouble is, those Annual Weeds have a way of sending MILLIONS of Seeds all over the place.  Those are next year's headaches.  Hand dig Dandelions and Creeping Charlie and Wild Violets.  If you have a LOT of Weeds, or if you want to start from scratch, lightly till and remove Weed debris and rocks by hand -- easier to do than it sounds.  Amend with a truckload of Humis and/or aged Manure and you're in business.  Remember, you don't have to mix this stuff thoroughly; you're not baking a cake.  You want to disturb the Soil as little as possible.  P.S.: Clover is NOT a Weed, as long as it's CLOVER and not BLACK MEDIC, a Clover lookalike.

3.  Run over to Hicks Nursery on Jericho Turnpike and pick up some Espome Mycorrhizae for Lawns.  You want to put this down with the newly sprouted Grass's first irrigation, but you should have it in the garage ready to use.  Just don't forget it's there.  Those Mycorrhizae (specialized Fungi) build little irrigation and subterranean feeding systems hooked right into the Grass roots.  We know Grass LOVES this stuff, and since you can buy it, you can repair much of the damage you do to existing Mycorrhizae in a single afternoon.

4.  Start amending.  Your drainage problem (Moss means you have a drainage problem) will be improved if you roughly till in lots of organic matter.  As I just told someone else, Soil texture can be greatly improved this way.  Moss is a plant that has NO ROOTS.  It needs LOTS of moisture to survive.  Note that I did not tell you to amend with SAND; this is the perfect recipe for hardpan, the OPPOSITE of what you want to accomplish.  Home Depot will sell you Manure and Humus by the truckload.

5.  Shop for Grass.  You don't have to buy it right away.  Just find a Grass you like and get ready to order it next Spring to sow.

How much traffic do you expect to exert on this new Lawn?  Do you plan a lot of BBQs?  Frisbees with the Dog?  Badminton?  Horsing around?  You'll need traffic tolerant Grass.

How much Sun do you get?  Lots?  Little?  Got trees?  That's all going to be the most significant factor in what kind of Grass you can select.  There's a new shade-tolerant Bluegrass out, but it can't deal with everything.  Let me know.  We'll figure out your best option.

6.  Get a Birdbath; plant some berry-producing shrubs.  Nothing like being one with nature when it comes to Weed control (Birds eat HUNDREDS of Weed Seeds in Winter, Insects and Grubs by the QUART in Summer).  Love thy neighborhood Birds.

Thanks for writing.  Any questions?

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER