Easy Bulb Planting with Garden Augers

You're probably familiar with drills for metal and wood but are probably not as familiar with the soil drills known as garden augers. These useful devices stand out in the ranks of specialty garden tools for the quick work they will make of many often encountered outdoor jobs.

You can find garden augers in a broad range of sizes. The largest are intended for rapidly planting trees and even power poles. The small ones are for garden use, drilling small holes mostly for properly planting seeds, bulbs and smaller plants.

All garden augers will need a source of rotating power to work. For a very small auger this may be a hand driven drilling device. For the biggest garden augers a very powerful force is required for example from a tractor drive shaft. The most popular small sizes of garden augers are designed to work with variable speed electric hand drills.

Even though a garden auger works well with tilled and moistened soil they are not intended for very rocky conditions. Gravel and extremely dry or compacted soil will probably prove too tough for most augers. Try wetting the soil for a few days first.

The most popular job for the garden auger is probably planting. Some of the biggest augers can rapidly drill holes in the dirt up to six inches in diameter and a number of feet deep. This is plenty big for planting most saplings. A heavy duty, pro-grade electric drill is minimally necessary for effectively using these large augers.

Never consider digging a fence post by hand again. Powered post hole digging augers can be found at reasonable cost from the majority of tool rental companies. You may require a friend to help hold the auger but you can create a perfect hole in a matter of minutes without the back pain the next morning. The biggest sizes of augers can be used to plant any size of fence posts.

The most popular size of garden auger is likely in the 1.5 to 3 inch range. These work with small, variable speed electric drills to very quickly create holes up to two feet deep for many uses. The most popular use is planting seeds and bulbs. Spring and summer bulbs are properly positioned in seconds and many other types of seedlings and bedding plants are planted just as rapidly.

The usefulness of garden augers does not end with planting however. A great use is to get out the roots of weeds that grow deep roots and are extremely difficult to get out with any other tool.

Bushes and trees, in particular older and established bushes and trees, need deep, regular watering, fertilizing and aeration. Small deep holes drilled around these plants will give nutrients, water and life-giving oxygen to the roots and will often restore life and vitality to older plants. Use the garden auger to drill many deep holes under the trees or shrubs before applying fertilizer and then watering.

The longest garden auger is a valuable way of routing electrical wiring and PVC irrigation pipes under sidewalks. Any job where you want to quickly and easily drill a hole into the ground is a good use for the garden auger.

Yard Butler Roto Planter garden auger digs holes up to 22" deep and 2" wide. It digs for you! Just insert into any 3/8" or larger electric or cordless drill. Plant Bulbs, Bedding Plants and Seedlings. Deep water, aerate and fertilize trees and shrubs. Gets the weeds, roots and all. Learn about the Roto Planter. Just one of many professional grade garden tools available from the Yard Butler Store.

A leading manufacturer of garden augers is the Yard Butler Company of San Diego, California. They have been manufacturing top quality specialty gardening tools for over fifty years. Listen to my advice and buy a quality auger made from top quality steel including the augers made by Yard Butler so the auger will not break the first time you use it.

I have experienced that the garden augers offered in the big home supply chain stores seem to be poorly made in China using soft metals and bend or break the first time you try them. Don't waste your time or money. A quality garden auger will last for many years and pay for the additional cost in the time you will save while working in your garden.

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