Always Useful Garden Augers

In the confusing world of specialty garden tools, one little known tool stands out because of the many jobs it can accomplish. The tool I'm speaking of is the garden auger. A garden auger is just a steel drill specially designed for drilling in the soil rather than wood or metal.

You can find garden augers in an extensive range of sizes. The biggest are designed for quickly planting trees and even telephone poles. The small ones are for garden use, drilling smaller holes most for quickly and correctly planting bulbs, seeds and smaller plants.

All garden augers will need a source of rotating power to work. For the smaller auger this may be a hand driven drilling device. For the largest garden augers a very powerful force is required for example from a tractor drive shaft. The most popular small sizes of garden augers are intended 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 common 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.

These large augers are also preferred for placing fence posts. They turn a frustrating and back-breaking job into a very fast exercise. Only the hardiest of fence builders would attempt digging fence post holes by hand when appropriate augers are readily available at most tool rental shops for very reasonable prices.

A really quick way to plant spring and summer bulbs in addition to many bedding plants and seedlings to use the auger to create a perfect hole then drop in the seeds, bulbs or plants. The common garden augers varying from about three inches down to less than two inches are perfect for this type of project. You will need a small, variable speed drill to turn the auger and it can make holes from a few inches down to two feet deep to make really quick work of planting.

The things you can do with garden augers doesn't stop with planting though. Another great use is to get out the roots of weeds that have long roots going deep into the ground and are nearly impossible to get out with any other tool.

Trees and bushes, especially older and established trees and bushes, need regular deep fertilizing, aeration and watering. Many deep bores drilled under these plants will deliver nutrients, water and life-giving oxygen to the roots and will often bring back life and vitality to older plants. Use the garden auger to drill multiple deep holes around the trees or shrubs in advance of applying fertilizer and then watering.

The longest garden auger is a useful tool for running electrical wiring and PVC irrigation piping under sidewalks. Any job where you want to quickly and easily punch a hole in the ground is a natural use for the garden auger.

Yard Butler Roto Auger digs holes up to 16" deep and 1" wide. It digs for you! Just insert into any 3/8" or larger electric or cordless drill. Plant Bulbs, Bedding Plants and Seedlings. Electrical or sprinkler installations under sidewalks. Insecticide applications and termite treatments. Deep water, aerate and fertilize trees and shrubs. Gets the weeds, roots and all. Learn about the Roto Auger. Just one of many professional grade garden tools available from the Yard Butler Store.

My experience is that you aught to always buy from a reputable manufacturer. I've had great success with the Yard Butler Company of San Diego, California. This company uses high quality steel making their augers, and used with care should not fail the first time you use them. Yard Butler has been manufacturing specialty gardening tools for over fifty years and has a solid reputation with gardeners for building higher quality tools.

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 break or bend the first time you use them. Don't waste your time or money. A quality garden auger should last for many years pay for the additional cost in the time you will save while working in your garden.

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