Has anyone found a bulb-planting tool that really works?

For years, I've been searching for a bulb planter that really works, by which I mean in areas/beds where the soil has already been amended as needed. Most of them get used one season and discarded, when the release mechanism for the soil clump ceases to work, or when they require the arm strength of King Kong to cut through the soil. Last year I tried the Oxo version, and was pleased with the way it worked and held up to use. BUT it still goes to a maximum depth of 6 inches, and still produces a tapering hole. For large bulbs, or for tulips that need a depth of 8 - 10" for best perennializing, I still have to enlarge and/or deepen the hole, which defeats the point of the tool. I'm now at the stage of adding bulbs around existing perennials and shrubs, so major excavation isn't practical.

In past years, I tried the bulb auger (sp?) that attaches to a drill, but wasn't thrilled with it; and it would now be too destructive to use around existing plantings.

If anyone has found a tool that truly does the job, I'd love to hear about it - and thanks!
Ruth

Hi Ruth!

From my decades of experience (LOL), I have decided bulb 'planters' are a waste of money. I've bought and discarded various tools because they just do not work (for me).

If I'm going to plant a 'clump' of bulbs (25, 50 or even a whole bed of 100-200) I use a shovel to take out the soil to the desired depth (placing the soil on a tarp or large piece of cardboard), place the bulbs as desired (if you are using two or three different varieties, you can space them appropriately) and fill the hole with the soil you have set aside. This way you can plant all of the bulbs at the exact same depth and get uniform spacing.

If I'm planting individual bulbs (around perennials, etc.) I use a hand trowel (or sharp-shooter shovel) to get the precise placement I desire without disturbing the neighboring plants.

For very large beds (this bed contains 1,000 bulbs), I prepare the soil by spading it (by hand - I'd use a rototiller if I had one), then place the bulbs on the surface, where I want them (spacing 1,000 bulbs can be challenging, if you want them evenly dispersed). I then use a hand trowel and plant them one bulb at a time, being careful to dig each hole to the same depth (as close as possible). It sounds like a lot of work, but the rewards the following spring make it well worth my time.

Thanks for the reply, LeawoodGardener. I was rapidly coming to the same conclusion - that dedicated bulb planters are just too frustrating and a waste of time and money - but it helps to have that view echoed by someone with much more experience. The bed in your photo is just gorgeous: I'm jealous! Thought I was ambitious the year I planted 500 bulbs or so, but clearly that's just dabbling (lol).

My perennial beds are beginning to fill in (thankfully) to the point where it's difficult to find space between perennials to kneel for bulb planting without squashing things. Guess I could wait until mid-October or later for bulb planting, when the perennials are starting to die back; our winters are pretty long here, so they'd still have plenty of chill time. The trouble is that by then, the ground is cool enough to make my old knees complain. What is a sharp-shooter shovel? Is it similar or the same as a transplant spade (longer, narrower blade than a traditional shovel)? I have a transplant spade that has become one of my favorite tools, and have wondered if that would work for planting bulbs around the perennials.

Thanks again for the help-
Ruth

Yeah, what I call a 'Sharpshooter' is a shovel with a long (maybe 18") narrow blade that is slightly curved. I really like them for digging in the bed between perennials.

For your knees - do you use a kneeling pad? I have a couple and can't work on my knees without them - here I'm using one as I spread mulch on that bed of tulips last fall.

Okay, with your recommendation on the Sharpshooter aka transplant spade, I'll use that as the tool of choice this fall; sounds like it should work fine. Thanks!

I know lots of fellow gardeners who swear by the knee pads; one especially loves the kind that is a little bench when oriented in one direction, and a kneeling pad with handles in the other direction. The problem for me is the lack of space between perennials: no real space to kneel, with or without a pad. Can't tell you how many times I've knelt straddling some poor perennial while planting something else; always afraid I'll do real damage in the process. I do have a pair of thick knee pads that I wear while working along the bottom of the fairly steep slopes surrounding our gravel driveway. Trying that without knee protection is something I did only once; it hurt like fire. Even the knee pad didn't give enough protection to keep the pain away while kneeling on gravel. The knee pads you wear provide great protection, but make you walk like a cowboy who's been in the saddle too long (lol). Frankly, getting old leaves a lot to be desired....

Yeah, the knee pads and the kneeling pad both are less than perfect, but they do help me get things done. There are places where I have to bend down and plant because there is no room for the pad (or to kneel), but I manage.

Getting old is better than the alternative, frankly, and as I've aged, I've found a greater appreciation for all things growing in my garden, now that I have fewer distractions. I focus on my garden and all the aches and worries seem insignificant.

I hear you, Leawood, and of course agree that getting old beats the alternative; but it sure is inconvenient some days. I too appreciate having the time to enjoy the garden and the wildlife, so much beauty that mostly passed unseen when life was a nonstop round of work and chores.

The transplant spade has been a big help for those many places where there's no room to kneel; just has to be used with care of the surrounding plants, but that adds a challenge that keeps things interesting. And of course bending works when nothing else is feasible. Really appreciate your help and advice: thanks much!

A shovel. One of those "bulb planters" are a waste of money unless you can keep the soil tilled loose and friable.

IMHO of coarse!

Well of course, tommyr, and thanks; every one I've tried has definitely been a waste, and simply a source of frustration. Was hoping there was a better product out there that I just hadn't found, but it sounds like I just need to use a shovel very carefully to avoid trashing perennials while planting the bulbs.

As someone who's newer to bulbs (definitely have not reached the 1,000 bulb mark yet lol!) I'm wondering if you usually have beds dedicated to just bulbs or if you truly can do a mass planting in between your perennials? I had some encouraging success this year planting accent groupings of Spring bulbs here and there and incorporating later blooming alliums into the beds etc. but to do a major planting how do you avoid destroying the roots of your perennials? I just love the look in the Spring of all the cheery bulbs coming up in mass. Thanks for any tips.

I plant small clumps of bulbs in 'pockets' in the perennial beds in the fall. By 'small clumps' I mean 5-10 bulbs. After they are done blooming, I place annuals in that spot among the perennials as 'place holders'. Depending upon the location, that may be coleus (the newer 'sun coleus' are great, because they get so large), begonias or impatiens.

For a larger bed (this is 750 'Orange Bouquet' multi-stem tulips in May, 2008), you need to dedicate the bed to annuals (or be able to afford perennials that you dig up in the fall!).

After the tulips are done, I dig them and plant the bed with annuals.

This year I used "Olympic Flame" tulips in small clumps among the perennials in the border.

WOW - that is BEAUTIFUL! Those columns are unbelievable, where did you come up with that design?

Do you find the bulbs don't make it through the wet winters if you don't dig them up and store them? I like the idea of just digging them out as soon as they're done blooming and replacing with annuals. Even though I planted mine in perennial beds I could still notice the foilage dying down through the early part of the summer and I have to admit it drove me nuts. Will the bulb still get the energy from the leaves if you dig up the whole plant and allow the leaves to die back in storage?

I can't imagine how much work that bed is but I agree - it's worth it for that show.

I'm laughing reading the early part of this thread because as the owner of some rough clay soil I've broken SO many "bulb planters" but I just bought the drill attachment thinking - this fall all will be different! Oh well, back to digging by hand lol!

The columns were part of a major construction project in my garden in 2006. There is a creek that runs the length of my property that had been a flood threat. In the late 1990's the City decided to widen the creek as part of a city-wide flood control problem (Leawood is hilly, thus those of us in the low-lying areas have been in danger of flooding). The construction project took a major chunk of land from my yard, but also left me with a wide swath of barren ground when they finished, so I decided to turn it into a wide border garden. I added the columns to give me a 'focal area'. The are antique cast iron columns I bought in 2003 from a dealer in upstate New York. I had a bricklayer build the curved walls to hold the columns. and added the Canada Red Cherry trees as a screen at the back.

Bulbs have no problem dealing with winter - it's the hot summer when the bed of annuals get watered regularly that seems to cause problems (read the comments here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/968351/).

My comments about planting bulbs by hand (and yes, the bed of 750 was also planted by hand, with a trowel, one bulb at a time) is just based upon trying everything I can to make the job easy, but discarding the 'tools' that don't work.

BTW, the construction crew that widened the creek left me with beds of fill dirt that consisted of clay and rock. I've broken 3 shovels in the last 3 years, digging in the clay and prying out large rocks to throw out. I'm amending the soil in my border one shovel full at a time - LOL. Here's the latest - Ames Tool Co's 'best' shovel, broken by digging out a rock.

Leawood - Thanks so much for the info. That really helps.

Good for you for taking a necessary construction project and turning it into such a huge plus for your garden. I love antiques inside and out of my house so I'm really impressed with you putting in those columns!

So funny that your rocks even beat the "best" shovel, I have alot of that horrid rock too. We put in a flagstone patio surrounded by beds to plant in. The only problem is the construction guys filled the border of the adjacent flower beds with rock and then just covered it with a couple inches of topsoil (????? - I guess for drainage) that I'm constantly hitting it when I dig. I'm amending the soil same way as you - one shovel at a time - some day it'll all be gone!

That's what I figure - with all my amendments, by the time I'm 90, the dirt will all be like butter - I'll be able to work it, no matter how feeble I become!

Peonyrosegirl, if you've already bought the drill attachment you might as well try it; nothing to lose. I found it just left a hole and compacted the surrounding soil, which I feared would produce the dreaded bathtub effect. If you drill out a significantly larger hole than the bulb needs, and are willing to fill each one with amended soil, it might work. This sounded like too much hauling to me to be worthwhile; figured I might as well do it by hand.

Leawood, those beds are also just gorgeous! I can well relate to the broken shovel; been there a few times myself. We're in the foothills of the Appalachians, and our property is filled with the rock that built the mountains. We have lots of raised beds sited where I encountered a giant rock, tried digging out from it 10 - 20 feet on each side, and still hit rock; no way I'm pulling out that creature, hence another raised bed. The rocks I can dig out get put to use holding down thick layers of newspaper to kill off grass/weeds in a new planting site; one thing sure, I'll never run out of rocks to use.
Ruth

I use a bulb auger for bigger jobs (like, say, 400 tulips and 200 hyacinths). It works great for me.....may occasionally hit a stray bulb but with the help of my husband, can get a big job done in just a few minutes.
For smaller jobs such as 25 bulbs or less, I'll just pop those in with the conventional bulb planter.

Thanks, MiniPonyFarmer. I think the problem for me with the auger was that our soil is basically hard clay that needs to be amended at each planting site. When I used the auger, I got a hole surrounded by compacted clay, not a promising environment for the bulbs. Like you, I have no trouble with the conventional planter for small projects, but the tool rarely holds up to big planting projects without the hinge breaking or jamming repeatedly. This year, I think I'm just going with careful digging around existing perennials with a transplant spade. Someday someone is going to invent the just right tool for this project, but I don't think it's happened yet.

Yes, you are right about the bulb auger making a deep column of clay for a bulb to nest in. If your soil is hard beneath this is definitely a problem. I have a patch of clay under one of my beds that is actually an extension of our house pad. I used the bulb auger there and ended up with lilies that could not root into the surrounding soil, that were trapped in a hollow column surrounded by clay. I had to move those. One hopes that eventually the shrubs in the bed will bust through the clay patch with their roots and eventually create inroads for drainage and rooting. This will take a long time though.

Sounds just like the issues I deal with here, MiniPonyFarmer, except that most of the areas I need to plant are like that: pure hard clay. This is thanks to a contractor who "redid" our very long circular gravel drive by taking a backhoe to the surrounding slopes: graded them all down to pure hard clay, and "helpfully" removed the topsoil from the property so we "wouldn't have to dispose of it." I can't begin to describe the mudslides of red clay that came off those steep slopes every time it rained. We couldn't begin to afford amending/repairing all that soil at once; so years later, I still have to deal with it foot by foot every time I plant. Every single time, I fantasize about hunting down that idiot and hurting him badly (lol). I keep hoping that over time the whole thing will improve by root and earthworm action; but you're right, that will take a long long time.

Boy - I'm glad I'm not the only one with contractor "anger issues" lol. I can't stop being annoyed every time I dig into construction rock or clay where I paid someone to bring in garden soil arrggghhhh!!! Spartacusaby - with hard clay like that do you put in large amounts of bulbs or just pockets here and there? I'm still trying to figure out a time efficient way to do mass bulb plantings in clay - maybe I'll just hold out for small raised beds.

By the way - since so many of us have clay/hard soil problems, has anyone here done the lasagna method for no dig beds? I have a large bed I'm thinking of doing this with and I haven't tried it before. The bed is so big I (or even dh) can't dig it out so I'm going to try the layering method over the winter and see if it softens/improves that hard clay.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one with homicidal thoughts toward former contractors, peonyrosegirl (lol)!

So far on our butchered slopes, I've done areas of bulbs here and there. The first ones, put in before we had many established perennials, were fairly easy; just worked the clay in a given area, added amendments and planted. Now that the slopes are getting to have some nice established perennials, it's tougher; you can't dig a very wide area without threatening the perennials' roots.

My partner did a bed when we lived in Virginia with the lasagna method; it worked pretty well but took forever, if memory serves. Doing it before winter would be an excellent idea if you want to try it; give it the whole winter to at least start the breakdown process. Here, with the slopes washing away before our eyes with each rain, that just wasn't practical. We just planted madly, making endless bad choices, to hold the soil; and now I'm removing most of that and replacing with mostly native perennials and shrubs, also some dwarf conifers that have become a weakness of mine.

In addition to the rock-hard compacted clay bequeathed us by the contractor from h...., the other issues I deal with here every time I plant are the rocks that built these western NC mountains, and roots - our property has lots of very very old oaks, and man, those roots are everywhere I dig. The best investment we've made to save our backs was a Mantis tiller; it does a great job of breaking up that clay, making it easy to then go back and amend the soil at a decent depth without breaking your back. [Of course, it won't pull out those footlong-plus rocks, but it will bounce madly over them to alert you to their presence.] I'm starting a couple new beds in the fall, and used the tiller to break up the soil, which I've now amended appropriately for the plants going in there. We have a local young man who does odd jobs for us, and when the bulbs arrive he'll dump out all that nice amended soil to the right depth for tulips. I can then go place the bulbs, backfill the soil, and add the perennials and shrubs. I'm really enjoying this; the last few beds I did alone, before we got the tiller, darn near broke my back. You might be able to rent a tiller to see if you like how it works in your soil; that new bed you're planning would give it a good trial.
Ruth

I just amended the soil in a bed I use for bulbs in the spring, annuals in the summer. Three years ago a creek remodeling project contractor left me with the usual combo of clay/rock they use for backfill behind a retaining wall (they assumed I'd put in grass sod, I guess - instead I planted a border garden). Each spring and fall for the last three years I have topped it off with horse manure and hand-spaded the bed. Last spring it really wore me out, so this fall I hauled in my horse manure and hired a guy with a tiller to work it over - the results are great - planting tulips will be a breeze (yeah, I do 'em one at a time, with a trowel - this bed takes 750).

Lasagna beds rock! Here's a great thread that's recently started with a ton of info in one place:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1030412/

Thanks for the link CrabgrassCentrl, that'll keep me reading for awhile, lots of good info! I didn't see how long it generally takes most people, any input? I'm sure the hotter the weather the better, me starting it in fall might be slow going.

You can do it in a day (depending on the size of the bed!) or spread it out over however long it takes! Last weekend I laid down cardboard, then a green layer, then a brown layer, and called it a day. Yesterday I put on another green layer, and any minute now (LOL!) I'm gonna get up and go put on another brown layer. I may not finish for another 2 weekends, but I really just want it to cook over the fall and winter so it's nice and juicy for next spring. I just make sure I water heavily when I'm done for the day (not that I've actually had to do any watering ... I just barely get in my work in between showers as it is.).

I planted some bulbs last fall in a small bed that had only been sitting for a couple of weeks, and they came up fine because the bed had cooked all fall & winter.

OTOH, I've read that you can just plant right away if you want without cooking. That's part of the beauty of lasagna beds!

That's what I was wondering - how long would it take to get "juicy" lol. I'm glad to hear it did cook over last winter for you, I was worried not much would happen until the summer heat got to it. Love the idea of getting some bulbs in now for some nice Spring color. This is sounding like a really good way to do a new bed.

I love the lasagna method too! How quickly you can plant depends on what kind of compost you're using. If you are using organic material that has already composted, its fine to plant directly into, but if you're using mostly straw, leaves, grass clippings, etc., it's best to wait a few months. I have a bed where I used a bunch of used potting soil and bags of top soil, manure, potting soil, and mulch that were half price because the bags were ripped. I just put the bulbs in as I was adding the compost, and planted perennials right on top immediately after- its one of the happiest beds I have!

gemini-sage - what a score to find all those half-price bags - i love it! I was going to use both, I have a lot of lawn clippings etc. but was going to add bagged compost/manure on top of that so hopefully by the Spring it'll be ready to plant?

That's an excellent idea! The clippings will provide mulch to keep weeds from growing in it and hold moisture, which the worms will appreciate. I think it will be perfect for planting in spring. Actually, I didn't see a special price listed for broken bags, but heard from another DGr that Lowes will mark them half off if the bags are ripped. So I asked, and sure enough that's true, so I just walked through looking for broken bags, and most usually you'll see plenty. You may want to call around stores (whichever box stores in your area that carry compost) and ask what their policy is on that.

You're kidding, I never would have thought to ask. Can't wait until my next Lowes/Home Depot trip lol - I'm going to try it!

They did say it had to be a hole that was too big to be taped, LOL.

Ask the individual store's garden manager. I buy broken bags of mulch, etc. at Lowes, Home Depot and a couple hardware stores all the time. One Lowes store had sold me broken bags at half price for months, then one day the department manager told me I could only buy broken bags IF I would take ALL of the broken bags of various kinds of mulch, manure, potting soil, etc on a pallet - I had to take everything or I could not buy anything at half price. I don't buy mulch at that store anymore!

whhhaattt???? That's really an odd thing, who would buy ALL of the bags? The manager must've seen you coming and thought he'd found a "great" way to get rid of all the damaged inventory at once ha ha. Don't these places realize that if you're fair with people they'll keep coming back? It's a win-win then I think.

Trust me, as someone who worked briefly at Home Depot for some extra cash ... management at these places are NOT Rhodes scholars ... >-(

Hi everyone! crabgrass I just HAD to report back and tell you that I did the Lasagna bed last Fall just like you described - OH MAN - it's awesome. I just went back and pulled back the tarp and I've got about 15-18 inches of black crumbly soil to plant in. I am so excited, can't wait to get that vegetable garden in - thanks so much for the tips!

It was so easy I'm thinking of doing it in more spots for this falls bulbs and ditching the broken bulb diggers for good ha ha.