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Best bulb planters to buy in 2024
- Kay Maguire
Published: Tuesday, 22 October 2024 at 10:43 am
Planting bulbs this autumn? Browse our review of the best hand held and long handled bulb planters.
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Adding cheery bulbs to your plantings will help to herald the spring or bring added interest to summer borders but whether you're planting just a few to brighten up a bed or planning a carpet of colour across a lawn, a bulb planter is a handy bit of kit.
Available as either handheld or long handled planters, which saves you bending down, a bulb planter has a tapered hollow cone that easily removes a core of soil to create a hole for your bulb. Once it’s planted, this core is then replaced back over the bulb, with just the squeeze of a button or when you plant the next bulb, depending on the design of the planter. We explain how to use a bulb planter in our short, handy guide below.
A bulb planter saves you disturbing any more soil than you need to, so they’re great when planting amongst other plants or in turf, plus they take the guesswork out of getting the depth right and help make the job much quicker - many planters include measurements along the side to help you plant each type of bulb at the right depth. If you need more information on this, we’ve put together a guide to bulb planting depths.
For more help planting see our review of the best garden hand trowels and the best border forks. and if you need to get beds and borders ready for new additions take a look at our guides to the best garden hoes and the best garden spades.
If you’re looking for spring garden design inspiration, we’ve also got advice on what to plant with spring bulbs to help you choose complimentary flowers to complete your display and for further inspiration, see our guide how to plant bulbs in lawns.
Best bulb planters at a glance
- Best long handled bulb planter: Kent & Stowe Long Handled Bulb Planter
- Best handheld bulb planter: Gardena Bulb Planter
- Best bulb planter for backs: Fiskars Xact Standing Planter
Our expertise
We've tested a range of bulb planters, using them in different gardens and situations to help you find the right one for your garden. Each bulb planter has a detailed list of pros and cons for clarity and has been rated according to design, comfort , performance and value for money. Every bulb planter in our round up below has scored a minimum of four out of five stars, so you can buy with confidence.
Jump to
- Best bulb planters in 2024
- The best of the rest
- Types of bulb planters
- How to choose the best bulb planter?
- How we tested bulb planters
In every review we award the outstanding products our coveted Best Buy award. To see these and the others we recommend, browse our pick of the best bulb planters below:
Best bulb planters in 2024
Kent & Stowe Long Handled Bulb Planter
RRP: £37.99
Our rating: 4.8 out of 5
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Kent and Stowe Long Handled Bulb Planter
Pros
- Comfortable shaped handle
- Wide foot treads
- Helpful features including serrated base
- Strong and robust
The Kent & Stowe Long Handled Bulb Planter is a BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy award winner for the best long-handled bulb planter. Traditionally styled and well-made, this stainless steel and FSC ash planter is strong and sturdy with lots of extra design features. These include a serrated base to help it penetrate the ground, depth markings for accurate planting and wide foot treads to make it easier to apply pressure when needed. It's comfortable but sturdy and just the thing for naturalising bulbs in lawns.
Read the full Kent & Stowe Long Handled Bulb Planter review
Buy the Kent & Stowe long handled bulb planter from Amazon and Crocus
Gardena Bulb Planter
RRP: £12.25
Our rating: 4.8 out of 5
Gardena Bulb Planter
Pros
- Comfortable and light
- Easy, smooth release trigger
- Long, serrated head
- Good for sustained use
The Gardena Bulb Planter is a BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy award winner for the best handheld blub planter. Well designed and easy to use, this strong, sturdy hand planter has a coating on the head to prevent soil sticking and reduce corrosion and a wide comfortable handle that suits both smaller and larger hands. Unlike most other hand held planters the head is opened with a flick of a finger so it's easy to drop the core back over the bulb. It also has a serrated end, depth markings to 15cm and is ideal for small scale plantings.
Read the full Gardena bulb planter review
Buy the Gardena Bulb Planter from Tooled Up and Amazon
Fiskars Xact Standing Planter
RRP: £54.99
Our rating: 4.5 out of 5
Fiskars Xact standing planter review BBC Gardeners' World magazine
Pros
- No bending or kneeling needed
- Light and comfortable on the back
- Easy to use
Cons
- Expensive
- No depth markings
If you struggle with back pain, check out the Fiskars Xact Standing Planter, a BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy award winner for the best bulb planter for backs. This well-designed tool is easy to use and does the hard work for you, helping you plant without ever having to bend or kneel down. While great for anyone with back trouble, it's also good for naturalising and repetitive planting, and it completes the job in three easy steps. Made from aluminium and fibre composite it's light, if a little unwieldy, and just lacks depth markings so is best for larger bulbs like daffodils and tulips rather than crocus or scilla.
Read the full Fiskars Xact standing planter review
Buy the Fiskars Xact Standing Planter from Amazon
The best of the rest
Although some models didn't quite achieve a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy award, they still have great features that make them worth recommending. Browse our pick of the best of the rest on test.
Greenman Solid Forged bulb planter
RRP: £29.95
Our rating: 4.3 out of 5
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BBC Gardeners' World Magazine bulb planters review Greenman solid forged bulb planter
Pros
- Strong and well built
- Wide foot treads
- 9cm diameter head
- Long warranty
Cons
- T shaped handle narrow and angular in the hand
- Thin foot treads
- Heavy
This traditional style long handled bulb planter is forged from one piece of carbon steel that has a rust resistant coating and it feels well made and long lasting. The 9cm diameter head is not only wide enough for planting the biggest allium bulbs but also for planting on young plants grown in 9cm pots, which will fit perfectly in the holes. The treads on either side are a good length but they are thin, which could feel uncomfortable if you’re not wearing solid soled boots when planting. It's sturdy and robust and has a good weight to it to help push it into compacted ground and makes holes well but, it does feel heavy.
The FSC ash shaft, which is 98cm long and the T shape handle is easy to grip but is quite short and its squared end feels sharp when you’re applying pressure on compacted ground, particularly if you’re not wearing gloves. It comes with a generous 15 year warranty.
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Wolf Garten Bulb Planter with Fixed Handle
RRP: £12.99
Our rating: 4 out of 5
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Wolf Garten Bulb Planter with Fixed Handle
Pros
- Light and simple
- Sturdy and substantial
- Easy trigger handle
Cons
- Only two depth markings
With a stainless steel head and plastic trigger handle this hand held planter is similar in design to many others but feels particularly robust and the trigger handle opens the head smoothly and easily. It has a serrated end so it slides into the soil and just two depth markings up to 10cm on the side.
Buy the Wolf Garten Bulb Planter with Fixed Handle from Amazon
B&Q Bulb planter
RRP: £3
Our rating: 4 out of 5
B&Q Bulb Planter
Pros
- Light and comfortable
- Clear depth markings
- Great value
Cons
- Stiff trigger
- Feels a little flimsy
A simple hand held bulb planter with a stainless steel head that has a serrated end and depth markings on the side up to 10cm. The plastic handle has a slight grip detail and a sprung trigger releases the soil core but this is a little stiff top open. The cheapest planter in our test this is great for planting in beds and borders.
Buy the B&Q Bulb Planter from B&Q
What are the different types of bulb planter?
There are two types of planter - hand held and long handled bulb planters.
The small hand held bulb planter requires you to bend down or plant on your knees but for planting a few bulbs in beds and borders this simple tool is ideal.
If working on your knees is difficult or you’ve a lot of planting to do, particularly in lawns, then a long-handled planter will help you finish the job without straining your back.
How to choose the best bulb planter?
Before you buy one think about the following:
- What are they like? Most bulb planters are made from stainless steel or carbon or boron steel, often with a coating to prevent corrosion and rust. This can also help stop soil sticking so it falls easily back into the hole. Metal is strong and long lasting and carbon steel planters can be sharpened to help keep the base sliding cleanly into the ground. If you have larger hands check the width of the handle as these vary and if your soil is sticky or particularly crumbly look for a hand held bulb planter with trigger release so that the core stays put in the planter until released.
- What are you planting? Bulb planters come in a range of sizes and many have been designed for particular bulbs. Most bulbs are planted between two and three times their depth so bear this in mind and choose a planter that will help you gauge the depth correctly.
- Where are you planting? The type of ground you're planting in can dictate the type of planter you need. If you have difficult or stony soil, a planter with a serrated base will help it enter the soil more easily and wide foot treads on a long handled planter will help you apply force if needed to ease the planter into the ground.
How to use a bulb planter
If soil is compacted or particularly hard and dry it may help to water the area the night before to loosen the ground. If you're using a hand held bulb planter, place it over your chosen spot and push down, twisting and rocking as you go until you reach the right depth. Remove the soil, drop in the bulb with its pointed tip up, and then replace the soil with the trigger release and firm down. Long handled planters are pushed into the ground with the foot and the soil core is either tapped out or it pops out when you make the next hole.
How we tested bulb planters
The BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Reviews team tested a range of both long handled and handheld bulb planters in beds, borders and lawns. The planters were compared, and the following criteria used to calculate the scores, with equal weight given to each:
- Design: assessed the materials the planter was made of, its strength and any features such as depth markings, serrated base or trigger handle.
- Comfort: focused on how each planter felt in the hand, its weight and handle and whether it had a comfortable grip. We also judged if it was best for small scale or repetitive planting.
- Performance: looked at how easy the planter was to use and whether it made planting bulbs easier.
- Value for money: considered all of the above plus quality, RRP and warranty.
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This review was last updated in October 2024. We apologise if anything has changed in price or availability.
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