Willard & May Flower Bulb HEX Shaft Drill Planter, Non-Slip – 1.75 by 9 inch - Bulb & Bedding Plant Auger

My yard has lots of rocks, so I wondered if this auger would be up to the job. It was. My 12 volt rechargeable drill was not powerful enough, but my electric drill did just fine. A reversible drill is a must, especially if the auger blade gets stuck on a rock. You can’t just pull, but you can easily back it out.The auger worked best when I kept the point in the hole and moved the top part around a bit so the hole would be slightly cone shaped.I found that if I hit a larger rock I could change the drilling angle and go around it. The screw action of the auger actually brought many of the smaller rocks up and spit them out along the edges. My soil was loose from recent rains; I doubt if it would work well in dry or hard soil. I’m sure you would not be able to bore through any large rocks.I planted daffodil bulbs. For larger bulbs you’d probably want a larger diameter. This auger was great for 6-7 inch deep holes; for deeper holes you’d need a longer shaft.After planting about 90 holes and hitting plenty of rocks, the auger showed only a bit of wear and no damage.

We had a ton of bulbs to since last fall, so I purchased this to avoid hours and hours of hand diggingBackground: Our soil here is solid clay, although almost 20 years of blending in compost and top coating with natural wood chips has resulted in 3-4" of nice top soil. Still some rocks and sometimes the bulbs are planted where roots are.I connected this to a low budget B&D cordless drill and went through two batteries before I turned to the 100' extension cord, Milwaukee 228, and GFI connection. Some of the holes were 6" deep, so the cordless drill struggled. Still, it was typically seconds to drill a hole. The 120 VAC drill made the hole drilling faster; however, the downside was that if I hit a rock or strong root, all the torque of the Milwaukee would wrench my wrist. I adjusted my grip to prepare for such incidents.All-in-all, I endorse this product. Makes short order of digging holes and is a sturdy drill planter. For the drill, I would suggest a stronger cordless or weaker corded drill (DO NOT USE IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A GFI OUTLET TO PLUG INTO).

I finally got it to work! I figured I could find an socket to fit it on my makita compact driver (which is incredibly powerful) but it was not as easy as I expected. Standard sizes are not going to fit this guy! Ended up finding an 8mm that almost fit, managed to hammer it on but with a few uses the coating had worn off from friction and it started to fall off while in the soil. Decided to super glue the auger to the socket which seems to be working but will probably have to find a better glue for it. I’ll make it work for me but I suggest finding one that specifically fits your drill/ driver without any attachments. When it stays on my driver it does a wonderful job, so I’m not completely disappointed in the product. Much easier to plant 600 bulbs with a power tool than a trowel or bulb tool!!

Used this to plant a ton of bulbs in rocky, clay soil. Saved so much time. Some tips:1) Use the clutch on your drill. I have a 20V Dewalt and at first set it to infinity. Big mistake - ask my wrist2) Beware of pulling up roots - it happens a lot. Also, you may pull up construction debris from who knows when (metal, etc.)3) Use a chalk line or similar to mark out a grid4) Try to be consistent in depth...it'll give you a better result in the spring (and years to come)5) Keep the drill moving as you pull out (not reverse - otherwise you won't pull up the dirt)

I wish I had bought this earlier, like years earlier! I just planted some bulbs that never got into the ground last fall. If I knew how great this was, maybe the bulbs would have been planted then! Talk about quick and easy. I planted over 200 bulbs today and it took me about half an hour, including the time it took me to decide where to plant them. No longer will I be a bulb planting procrastinator with this auger!

I purchased this after having purchase a large quantity of bulbs to plant this fall. Hand digging would have taken me forever! I am glad I had this! In decent soils, this took seconds to get to desired depth for planting bulbs. In less desirable soils, it took a few minutes of work. Be mindful of drilling too fast, it will definitely get away from you and wrench your arm. Slow is the best speed! Overall, excellent purchase and would recommend!

We have clay soil in North Carolina and it's a bear to dig holes for bulbs, flowers and the like. While the clay will slow the auger down one it hit that layer, I eventually got the hang of it and was able to get individual bulbs in the ground in 30 seconds, rather than several minutes with a small shovel.I imaging that those with nice loam will find this even easier to use.

Read and follow directions! I had no idea the amount of torque this could produce. Almost hurt my wrists by trying to go too deep too fast. Planted a bunch of bulbs in a short amount of time.