Kent & Stowe Stainless Steel Long Handled Bulb Planter 100% FSC

Product Information

If you’re heading out in search of the perfect long-handled bulb planter, here are a few things to consider before parting ways with your money. What soil are you going to be working on? Draper is a British brand that’s loved for its extensive range of hand and power tools. Some are innovative, complex, and powerful, while others are simple classics, like the 3082 Bulb Planter. You’ll see many similar versions of this bulb planter around, so I was curious to see how Draper’s model would compare. As you can see, there’s not much to it. The only time the tool was difficult to use was on hard and stony ground. Even after exerting a fair amount of pressure (which you’re not meant to do), I couldn’t push the planter in deep enough. In addition to planting bulbs and small plants, you can also use this tool for removing weeds with deep taproots, extracting soil samples, drip-edge fertilising trees and as a lawn/sod plugger. Most of the bulb planters that I reviewed were pretty versatile, but this one takes things to a whole new level.

The tapered head on this dibber was sharp enough to go through both hard, stony ground, as well as cardboard (plus hard, stony ground underneath cardboard) without too much effort required on my part, making it a highly effective tool. This bulb planter is roughly 7 cm in diameter – it has a conical shape, so is slightly narrower at the base and then wider at the top. There are depth markings etched onto the side, ranging from 0 – 10 cm , and these are clearly visible. These tools are designed to make holes that are just the right and depth size for planting the most common types of bulbs, and so it takes out a lot of the guesswork. What are the best long-handled bulb planters available in the UK?

Goes well with

However, this tool was brilliant for bulbs that needed to be planted a few inches down. In addition to the 250 crocus bulbs that it helped me to plant, I also used it for tulip bulbs of differing sizes (from large specialty tulip bulbs to smaller, dwarf varieties).

Storm Arwen Update: Storm Arwen battered my farm, and while trees and sheds went flying, I didn’t expect it to affect the bulbs that I had planted a couple of weeks previously. However, I was wrong – the next morning, all 250 holes that I had dug for my crocus bulbs were uncovered. I didn’t have this issue with the bulbs that I planted using any of the other bulb planters, so I’m assuming it was because the auger compacted the soil into the sides of the holes to such an extent that the new soil I added in never properly merged with the old soil. You can then sit a bulb in the hole that you’ve just made, before holding the bulb planter over the top of it. Squeezing the handle is easily done, and sees the soil plug fall neatly out of the tool and into the hole. Firm it down and then move on to the next! You won’t need any instructions for this bulb planter (which is a good thing since there aren’t any!) – it really is very straight forward to use. Place it over your chosen area of soil and then step onto the foot treads. Twist the tool as it makes its way downwards, and it should neatly slice into the soil, collecting the plug into its conical head as it does so.

Reviews

Theoretically speaking, this auger drill bit should have been extremely simple to use. After all, just point it at the ground, turn your drill on, and hold on tight, right? This would be the case if you’re working with soft soil; although, chances are that you wouldn’t need such a savage bulb planting tool if your soil fits that criteria. After testing several different bulb planters, we’ve chosen the ProPlugger 5-in-1 Bulb Planting Tool as our top choice. It’s a long-handled tool that’s great for larger bulbs. It comes with depth rings to help make 5 cm, 10 cm or 15 cm holes. There are also large foot treads that help push it into the soil and comfortable, padded handles. Overall, it made planting bulbs, and covering the holes, a much easier job. I also appreciate how versatile this auger drill bit could be. It claims to also be helpful when it comes to planting bedding plants, mixing soil/cement, and digging holes for other purposes, and I can clearly see how this would be the case. One of the best features of this tool are the depth rings. You can slide these rings on to adjust your planting depth – choose from either 2, 4, or 6 inches. There’s only one way to put each of the rings on, and only one place each of them can go, so whoever designed this tool really couldn’t have made things simpler. The WOLF-Garten FHN Bulb Planter Hand Tool performed exactly as I expected it to. It’s not a planter that I would recommend to anyone that has overly hard or stony soil, but, for everyone else, this clever little tool will make the bulb planting process so much faster.

The tip is nicely pointed, which seems to come in handy for breaking hard ground. Plus, it also comes with a small hole punched into it – this enables you to hang the drill bit when storing it away, which is pretty convenient. In terms of size, the drill bit is 22 cm long and 4 cm wide , which gives it the potential to be used for a variety of different bulbs.It’s also worth noting that due to the length of this drill bit, you’ll need to bend over for each hole that you dig. If this is an issue for you, but you like the idea of the auger drill bit, you could look into one of the longer/larger sizes available.