Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a single thing that I disliked about this dibber. It may be basic compared to some of the other bulb planting tools I tested, but, sometimes, that’s all you really need. Overall, I’d say it’s the best dibber tool available.

Anyone who has spent time planting bulbs in the ever-dropping Autumn temperatures will tell you how tiring it can be. That is, if you do it the old-fashioned way and dig up an entire garden bed. But what if I was to tell you there’s a much easier way to plant those bulbs? On the downside, unlike the other bulb planters I tested, which neatly collect the soil that they remove from each hole, this one pushes it to the side and compacts it in. You won’t be able to refill the hole with the same soil, meaning that you’ll need to have extra soil or compost with you when planting. These tools are designed to make holes that are just the right and depth size for planting the most common types of bulbs, and so it takes out a lot of the guesswork. What are the best long-handled bulb planters available in the UK? At the present time, the three long-handled bulb planters above are probably your best options unless you really want to dig deep and spend a lot on a top—tier gardening tool from a specialist supplier. For most people though, either the countryman or Kent & Stowe models should do the job just fine, as long as you use the right tool for the right type of soil. If you have dense soil, like clay, you’d better go for the countryman long-handled bulb planter, but for softer soil types, the Kent & Stowe will do a great job. Long-handled bulb planter- buyer’s guide

Dimensions

Once you’ve planted your bulb, hold the tool over the hole and squeeze the handle. This causes the tool to open up and drop the plug of soil that it was holding. Storm Arwen Update: Storm Arwen battered my farm, and while trees and sheds went flying, I didn’t expect it to affect the bulbs that I had planted a couple of weeks previously. However, I was wrong – the next morning, all 250 holes that I had dug for my crocus bulbs were uncovered. I didn’t have this issue with the bulbs that I planted using any of the other bulb planters, so I’m assuming it was because the auger compacted the soil into the sides of the holes to such an extent that the new soil I added in never properly merged with the old soil. If you'd like more than 10 bags of compost please call our Customer Service team who can arrange for a bespoke competitive quote on 01480 774555 (standard network charges apply)

When it comes to emptying the soil out of the tool, you have two options. Either turn the tool upside down and let the soil fall neatly out, or dig another hole. The soil that the tool collects from this hole will push the old soil out of the bulb planter and leave it neatly on the ground, ready for you to re-fill your first hole with. If you do an online search for the ‘best bulb planter tools’, you’ll likely come across products from several different brands that look exactly like the WOLF-Garten FHN Bulb Planter Hand Tool. However, with WOLF-Garten being a brand that’s known for their innovation and quality, I was hoping that their version of this classic bulb planter would outshine the rest and make it easy for me to plant a variety of spring-flowering bulbs around my farm. I had several bulbs to plant, from tiny onion sets to plump garlic cloves to chunky tulip bulbs, giving me plenty of opportunities to test this award-winning tool out. The ProPlugger couldn’t get much easier to use. All you need to do is place the tool over the area of soil you want to dig (after sliding on the appropriate depth ring), step down onto it, give it a twist, and pull it up. Theoretically speaking, this auger drill bit should have been extremely simple to use. After all, just point it at the ground, turn your drill on, and hold on tight, right? This would be the case if you’re working with soft soil; although, chances are that you wouldn’t need such a savage bulb planting tool if your soil fits that criteria.At 101cm long, the Kent & Stowe traditional bulb planter is a good length to prevent most people having to bend over too much when operating it, and you can actually plant quite a few bulbs in a short time once you get used to the twisting action. Most of the bulb planters that I reviewed were pretty versatile, but this one takes things to a whole new level. Although the handle and shaft are made of metal, they are only thin and so a little care needs to be taken or you could end up bending the bulb planter out of shape. There is also no rubberised grip part for comfort when holding the tool, but a good pair of gardening gloves will make this a non-issue. The exception would be if you’ve been struggling to dig through hard ground – this tool makes that effortless. The only real downside to this tool is that it doesn’t have any depth measurement markings on it. This is something that most bulb planters usually have, and it does make life a little easier when you’re planting a variety of bulbs that need to go in at different depths. However, if you’ve planted plenty of bulbs before, it’s easy enough to estimate how deep you need to push the dibber in to obtain your required depth.

Long-handled bulb planters come in a variety of sizes, but most are around 1 metre in length. While this is fine for the majority of people, if you are quite tall, this might still mean that you have to stoop a lot and defeat the purpose of having a long-handled bulb planter. There are models out there that are built longer, so you might be best looking out for one of those if you are blessed with long legs. Obviously, for the more vertically challenged among us, you should look for something with a shorter handle to make things as comfortable as possible. Weight I couldn’t see any bulbs in the holes (I’m hoping they were further down) but I re-covered the holes anyway and have my fingers crossed for spring! Since these were pretty extenuating circumstances, I haven’t detracted any points from my scoring of the product, but it’s worth a mention for those of you who live in storm-prone areas. The WOLF-Garten FHN Bulb Planter Hand Tool performed exactly as I expected it to. It’s not a planter that I would recommend to anyone that has overly hard or stony soil, but, for everyone else, this clever little tool will make the bulb planting process so much faster.

My Top Recommended Bulb Planter Tools

While this planting tool may not be quite as easy to use at first as some of the others out there, things go much smoother (and faster) once you develop a technique that suits the soil you’re using it in . Once you’ve worked this out, the tool becomes much easier to use than the others – it requires the least amount of effort and force to dig a hole , even in hard ground. This was one of the most comfortable bulb planting tools that I tested. Its padded handles are appreciated when using the tool for extended periods of time, and the fact that you can stand up and work, rather than having to constantly bend over, is a big advantage. We know how important your garden is to you. We've listened to our customers and introduced a new improved speedy delivery service, meaning Express deliverycomes as standard. The ProPlugger 5-in-1 Planting Tool is extremely effective at planting bulbs. It’s not a tool that I would use for small bulbs that need to be planted just beneath the surface of the soil, but it’s ideal for larger bulbs that need to sit a little deeper, such as tulips. At just over 1.2kg in weight, this Draper long-handled bulb planter is quite light for a completely metal construction.