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Bulb Planting Auger

amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
in Tools and techniques
Hi all,

On a spur of a moment and encouraged by all my YouTube gardening viewing I bought a bulb planting auger to help me put in the maybe 200+ bulbs that I will be planting. 

Have any forum members used one in the past successfully? Will probably use it next week when I have the time to put the bulbs in...so happy to update you how it went!

And this is the kind of combo I'm referring to...to give you an idea. The photo is a random online find, for reference.

Thanks 
George 
To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow

Posts

  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    I have a set of three for different bulb sizes. I used them last year and found them very useful. My soil is full of rocks and roots so if I hit anything too big I just back out, move a few inches and go again. I go deeper than the usual depth, put a bit of compost down the hole, plant bulb and top up with more compost.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Gosh that looks good, I've never seen one like that before. Do keep us updated on progress please.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    Thanks @steephill that sounds promising for my case 😉 will report back @Lizzie27 probably will do it on Tuesday...weather permitting.
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • WeaveyDaveyWeaveyDavey Posts: 575
    I use an old-fashioned manual-drive soil auger with screw width around 3 cms. Max depth circa 1 foot!! [note use of bilingual terminology...]. Ok, so it's slow but at least it won't "gybe" at the odd pebble!! (definitely doesn't go well thro' concrete!).
  • AlchemistAlchemist Posts: 273
    @amancalledgeorge I find this is quite good for use in hard or compacted soil. But find a traditional bulb digger to be faster in free/loose soil. Make sure you have the clutch on a easy setting (still) till you get used. As sometimes when you are going fast it can catch a layer of heavy clay which can wreck your wrist. 
  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    Thanks @Alchemist good advice...will take it slowly on the torque. My soil is not exactly the fluffiest so it should come handy. 
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    That looks like a good toy to have for later on but at the mo we're still creating new beds so bulbs get planted in groups in spade holes, not individual berths.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • NikonPhilNikonPhil Posts: 31
    I used one this year for the first time. I have various soil types and what I found was:
    In clay / heavy type soil - I had to keep pushing and pulling it up and down otherwise it just backfilled with the soil it was removing.
    In sandy soil it was fairly useless - The soil just kept falling back into the hole, better to use a trowel.
    On moist, well drained soil - it was OK, but just as easy and quick to use a regular bulb planter.

    The best way I found of using it was on the clay / compacted soil where it was difficult or tight to get a fork / spade in. I used it to loosen the soil by angling it in at about 45 degrees and levering the soil while the bit was rotating. This broke the soil up nicely, allowed me to mix in some compost and I then got some fairly deep, loose soil so that I could finish planting the bulbs with my trowel.
    As mentioned in earlier post, and good advice - keep the torque and speed on the drill low so if it snags it doesn't sprain your wrist.

    Best of luck.
    Phil
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