How not to plant bulbs

These suck. 

For the most part, I have a healthy respect for garden tools. Every pruner I have cuts what it’s supposed to cut, every spade moves earth the way it needs to, and I’m still using claws, rakes, and hoes that I’ve had for years. 

There is one family of tools that makes no sense to me, however. I became acquainted with bulb planters very early in my gardening life, because tulips and lilies were the first plants I wanted to grow. My initial bulb planter was a short, soft-handled metal one with jagged edges. This did a very good job of withdrawing a rock-solid plug of earth from my planting bed. After spending an hour or so sinking the thing in and then poking and pounding at it to make it give up its contents, I got maybe 10 bulbs planted.

Reasoning that the small planter was too flimsy, I went for a much heavier long-handled version of it. Same results, except now I could stand as I pounded the thing against the nearest hard surface to get the dirt out of it. (I do think it would make a good weapon: easy to lift and swing, but with a good, solid clang when it connects. I'm assuming.)

 Works for me. 

I soon discovered that special tools were not needed; shovels were better. For small bulbs, a short spade can be rocked back and forth until it makes enough space for 3-5 species tulips, and the dirt falls right in afterwards. For a big group of large hybrids (I only plant them in big groups), a big shovel does the job. And now I have a new tool: when the ground is filled with roots and small stones, the CobraHead seems to be able to claw its way through anything, loosening it up so I can spade or shovel the rest.

Sure, there are dibbles, which are nice (great name), and augers attached to drills, which bring power into the mix, but even these special bulb tools are designed to plant one bulb at a time. And that is something I never do any more. They don’t look good isolated, and if you’re going to make small holes close together, why not make one or several big holes instead? Well?

I’m guessing no one will be sending me any bulb planters now, and that’s fine. But I would be interested in what the bulb-planters among you think. 

Comments

[Diana at Garden on the Edge]

I, too, have one of those hand held bulb planters. I think that is one of those tools you have to buy when you're starting out that you quickly become embarrassed to admit you bought when you realize there's a better way to plant bulbs. I planted around 250 bulbs this fall and a shovel was the tool of choice. I can't image planting bulbs individually (except for my forcing hyacinths). Instead of digging 250 holes I dug between 15 and 20 and the bulbs will form loose groupings instead of tulip, space, tulip, space, tulip.

[susan harris]

Same experience here. Getting the dirt OUT of the tubular bulb planter is a ridiculous task to have to perform, and solely because of bad tool design. Also, rocks? Can't handle 'em. They DO work fine in pure compost, though, but what doesn't?
Since you turned me on to the radical notion of planting many bulbs in one hole I've been liberated from those gawdawful tools and now happily use my favorite shovel. Thanks, E!

[Katie]

A shovel or hoe for bulb planting, period!!

[Tibs]

One year I used the short bulb planter for about 200 bulbs. It was a newly made bed, the soil was pliable, so it worked fairly well. But....I got what I called Bulb Elbow. Same thing as Tennis Elbow. Over use of tendons or what ever by the repetitive jam, twist movement. Had to wear some stupid strap around my fore arm for a while. Shovel, or a good sharp long trowel if you are working in an already packed bed and are just tucking bulbs hear and there.

[Christopher C NC]

I just planted a thousand bulbs, 800 tulips and 200 daffodils for a client in existing perennial flower beds. My tool of choice was a bulb auger on an electric power drill. I am trying to cover a lot of ground and create sweeps of bloom so the one hole lots of bulbs doesn't work in this case. I did use a shovel in the Creeping Jenny and a hand trowel in the unknown Euphorbia grouncovers because the drill would have just wrapped those plants up into a big wad.

The surprising thing is that in all those drilled holes I only hit other bulbs maybe six times and I know for a fact that the ground is soaked with bulbs. I have planted them in the same locations three falls in a row.

[commonweeder]

Forget the bulb planters. I not only couldn't get the dirt out of the thing, I always wrecked the handle in very short order. I, too, tried a less flimsy model, but same result. A shovel is my preferred tool. I also just open up a slice of ground and slip in the little bulbs that are planted in my lawn.

[JWLW]

HI Elizabeth: go to Brent & Beckys and check out item #48-0110 Bulb Planter. Bulb Planter for Unprepared Soil, works great. I have found other uses for it also.
http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/?sku=48-0110

John

[marlene]

I concur on the bulb planters; they are all but useless! I use a garden spade as well and usually plant 3 to 5 bulbs per hole. I've had great results combining early and mid season or mid and late season daffodils together.

For the really small bulbs like scilla or drumstick alliums, my husband had a length of rebar with a handle on top. It's very easy to jam this in the soil, rock it back and forth once, drop in the bulb and then cover it with soil. This works well when you're scattering these bulbs throughout a large bed.

[Michele Owens]

For almost every gardening task...shovel.

[TC]

I think some find bulb planters like the one you're giving down the road quite handy. Perhaps it has a lot to do with personal choice, and how many bulbs you'll be planting.

[Lzyjo]

LOL! I have the same experience. I shovel and/or trowel works for me! Have you seen those ad that the late Billy Mays did for the weed aug, when when drill into fluffed up mulch to plant bulbs??!! The most basic tools usually do the job.

[Nell Jean]

I use a post hole digger. I make a big hole at the right depth, drop in three to five or more bulbs depending on size and shove the soil back in.

It's also possible to place many bulbs atop well prepared soil and cover them with several inches of topsoil/compost to make a slightly raised bed.

Old ladies with bad backs improvise a lot.

[Donalyn]

I'm really lazy - I typically plant bulbs around the margins of perennials I am planting already. This serves two purposes - I get double duty for my work, and I have a perfectly logical explanation for the plants that have been sitting in pots since I bought them in June. I frantically work in October to get them in the ground, because I was "waiting" for the bulbs to come. Not because I'm lazy, disorganized and procrastinatish. It is for the bulbs. Regardless, I use a shovel and or trowel. A big, hefty screwdriver works for little stuff like crocus.

[Joseph Tychonievich]

I'm a minimalist when it comes to tools: a good shovel, a hand trowel, pruners, and that's all I've needed for virtually any gardening task. Though I like Christopher's electric drill! That could do the trick! (and all my neighbors would think I'd gone insane... wait, they already think that.)

[Mr. McGregor's Daughter]

For quite a while, I thought it was just me, or just my soil. I used to shove the soil back out of the bulb planter with a dandelion weeder. Then I realized the futility of it. I don't plant large groups of bulbs because I tuck them between plants, so the big hole method isn't for me. Instead, I mostly use a hori-hori knife. This year I'm going to try my new spade/hoe thingy from Smith & Hawken.

[gardenmentor]

Bulb planters should be called groundcover dividers instead. They do any okay job of taking a cookie cutter 4" pot size division of a spreading groundcover like (say) thyme.

But, I wouldn't go out and buy one for the purpose. Just use a shovel and favorite hand-tool instead.

[Kassie Schwan]

Over many years, I plant more and more daffs in a field that grows tall through the summer. In spring, the show is very nice. But the ground is hard clay. I use a mattock! I whale it into the ground, remove the divot, stick in a couple bulbs, and return the divot, and stomp on it. Not at all elegant, but it works.

[Rhonda Fleming Hayes]

Thank you for having the courage to disparage those darn bulb planters. They are dumb. I prefer the husband-powered auger/drill method with me following along daintily dropping bulbs behind him.

[twitter.com/BackyardWisdom]

And here I thought I was the only one who hated those things. As for me, it's either a shovel or a good long trowel.

[Michelle D.]

I remember when I was a hort. intern that we received 10,000 tulip bulbs for one exhibition planting area.
The head gardener came in holding one of those hand held bulb planters and I just about lost it.
Thankfully it was just a joke and we used a shovel.
The only thing those hand held bulb planters are good for are cutting out equal portions of clay in the ceramic lab.

[donna]

Yup. My garden tools these days consist of a shovel, a hand trowel, a hori hori knife, and a good pair of clippers.

[MiSchelle]

Put one more on the rolls for the drill auger. I am in love with that tool! I borrowed one from a friend the year I had 800 bulbs to plant - took me a little over half an hour. The next half hour was spent online tracking one down for my own shed. It's great for breaking up soil, cranking out dandelion roots, planting annuals and 4" perennials - so many uses I finally dedicated a power drill to its use.

[Kristen]

The drill auger is my vote, absolutely - especially when planting hundreds of bulbs. Since it's a 'power tool', my husband was even willing to help plant. Getting him to stop making holes everywhere was the only problem...

[Carol, May Dreams Gardens]

I've also used a drill to plant bulbs, specifically crocuses in my lawn, though I couldn't find a an auger, so I used a flat 'spade bit'. Other than wearing it out after a few hundred bulbs, it worked great.

[Claire, Plantpassion]

i've planted over 3000 bulbs in the last few weeks and a bulb planter hasn't been used for any of them (although I do have two languishing in the shed) - i dig the soil over first then use a pointed transplanting trowel to move the soil aside so they can be popped in and pushed down with fingers