Spiral drill bits

oooft

I was wondering if anyone had used one of these and are they as excellent as they seem? I've lifted some of my spring bulbs and plan to plant them under trees round the farm where i live, in the autumn. I thought i would probably splurge on a long handled bulb planter but then an advert for this came up on my facebook and i feel i'd be able to do more than plant just bulbs with it

hogweed

I always find that using power tools in the garden makes me loose the connection between me and the earth, or shrub or tree or whatever. I like just plodding away with hand tools doing whatever needs doing although power tools are necessary for some things. If you had hundreds or thousands of bulbs to plant and the soil was hard then I suppose it would be useful.

Lyn

It’s a consumers society nowadays, they bring something out, people will have to have buy it.  

oooft

hogweed said:

I always find that using power tools in the garden makes me loose the connection between me and the earth, or shrub or tree or whatever. I like just plodding away with hand tools doing whatever needs doing although power tools are necessary for some things. If you had hundreds or thousands of bulbs to plant and the soil was hard then I suppose it would be useful.

I love my flymo lawnmower, cuts my lawn in a tenth of the time it took with my old push mower. I don't feel any more disconnected to the lawn than i did with the previous mower. I don't have any other power tools in the garden. Anything that saves me from pain and stiffness would be welcomed. I do have many, many bulbs to plant so will probably buy this tool. Was really hoping to find somebody on here who had used one.


 Lyn said:

It’s a consumers society nowadays, they bring something out, people will have to have buy it.  

Technological advancement is a good thing for many people. If you didnt have the internet you'd have to use smoke signals to make snippy comments to strangers.

Orchidia said:

Stop clicking on advert links in facebook. facebook is evil; I refuse to even give it a capital letter.

I bought a £1.99 bulb planter (manual) and I haven't used it yet. Some of my soil is so hard that it probably wouldn't even be possible to use. But I was brainwashed. Oh well.

I like facebook. I am sorry that a bulb planter cult brainwashed you and forced you to squander 2 quid on a tool you've as yet been unable to use. I wish you every success with it in the future should you decide to try it out

Lyn

@oooft.  If you don’t like the answers you get, just ignore them and go and buy the thing. 

Newgardeninggirl

Hiya @oooft yes ive used one of these, I think it was from crocus. Unfortunately it wouldnt fit in the attachement for my cordless but managed to get it to fit into the cabled drill but this meanst a long extension lead into the garden.

It worked VERY well, planted hundreds of bulbs and made very light work of this rather ardruous task!  

oooft

Lyn said:

@oooft.  If you don’t like the answers you get, just ignore them and go and buy the thing. 

That wasn't an answer though, was it? Perhaps if you have nothing nice or useful to say you could just ignore the post. Please don't feel you have to share your musings on every subject.

Newgardeninggirl said:

Hiya @oooft yes ive used one of these, I think it was from crocus. Unfortunately it wouldnt fit in the attachement for my cordless but managed to get it to fit into the cabled drill but this meanst a long extension lead into the garden.

It worked VERY well, planted hundreds of bulbs and made very light work of this rather ardruous task!  

Thanks for that, NGG. The part about the attachment not fitting is most helpful. There are several varieties on the market, i'll research them and find one that fits the cordless drill i have. All the videos i've seen of the tool in action have been in compost or very light soil so was concerned that it was a bit of a con

DampGardenMan

oooft said:

All the videos i've seen of the tool in action have been in compost or very light soil so was concerned that it was a bit of a con

That would be my concern. Also, as I often seem to be planting bulbs near trees, would one end up doing more damage to tree roots than one does with a cautiously prodded trowel ... anyway, please do report back if you get one.

steephill

I have a set of these which I used last year to plant hundreds of bulbs with a cordless drill/screwdriver. The clutch mechanism on the drill is very helpful in avoiding wrist stresses from the torque. They work well and are much faster than a hand trowel. I drill the hole, drop in the bulb and backfill with a handfull of MPC and soil from the hole. Most conventional bulb planters are far too lightweight to cope with my stony, rooty soil. If the drill stalls on a stone or root I just back off and re-position.

amancalledgeorge

Laura, at Garden Answer used similar tools to plant thousands of bulbs...seems to work well enough. https://youtu.be/n3bMgYVsNO8

oooft

steephill said:

I have a set of these which I used last year to plant hundreds of bulbs with a cordless drill/screwdriver. The clutch mechanism on the drill is very helpful in avoiding wrist stresses from the torque. They work well and are much faster than a hand trowel. I drill the hole, drop in the bulb and backfill with a handfull of MPC and soil from the hole. Most conventional bulb planters are far too lightweight to cope with my stony, rooty soil. If the drill stalls on a stone or root I just back off and re-position.

YAAASSSSS! Magic, this is just what i wanted to hear. Our soil is also quite stony and rooty. I plant hundreds of tulips in pots every year but they're not great in the second year so i don't want them taking up pot space again. I'm planning to naturalise them in some grass. I always plan to naturalise them in grass then cant be arsed with the hard work, dig a hole, fling them all in, hey presto i get one nice tulip six months later. I think i will enjoy using this tool and the bulbs will actually make it into the grass this autumn