Hound Dog Products Bulb Hound is for the dogs

Last autumn I planted over 300 bulbs in my various flower beds. This was no small task, but the results so far have been magnificent. I did my best to make planting hundreds of bulbs as easy as possible and among the things I tried was Hound Dog Products Bulb Hound.

This tool is more trouble than it is worth, and in retrospect, I probably should have known better than to waste money on it. In short, it is like a big set of jaws attached to a pole, the bottom of the jaws are jagged with a "sharp" (arguable) edge to cut into your soil and take out a nice big hunk so you can just plop your bulbs into the perfect, uniformly deep holes you didn't even have to bend to make. There is a lever on the handle to open and close the "jaw" so that you can easily remove said hunk of soil from the ground.

I have hard clay soil all over the place, but because most bulbs don't like clay soil, I planted in less compressed spaces. The Bulb Hound was pretty much useless in this capacity. It couldn't really penetrate my compacted clay soil even when I tried stepping on it and it didn't do such a great job of penetrating the less compacted stuff. I found that pulling on the lever to control the "jaw" did nothing at all. I had to bend down to make the jaw open and close by manipulating the jaw with my hands. I rapidly realized this was just more trouble than it was worth, and it is now gathering dust in my garage.

According to Amazon.com, "The Hound Dog Bulb Hound garden planter makes gardening easier by cutting and refilling holes for more efficient bulb planting. Its long-handled, patented design allows you to use the tool from a standing position, making gardening easier on your back and knees. The planter digs and expels soil, ensuring consistent depth when planting multiple bulbs. It is also great for transplanting. This tool features durable steel construction and rustproof finishes for long-lasting wear. Its comfortable grips are easy on your hands. The garden planter comes with a limited lifetime warranty."

Is Amazon talking about the same product I bought? I don't think so! Perhaps the Bulb Hound is the best thing since sliced bread when you use it in sandy or loamy soils, but it is just plain bad in my garden.

So now let me tell you the fastest, easiest way to plant a lot of bulbs. Dig a trench as deep as you want to plant your bulbs. Try to keep the depth uniform. Mix some bone meal or bulb booster into the soil, according to package directions. Now, just take your bag of bulbs and scatter them around the trench. Let them fall where they fall. Next, you need to turn them all so that the growing end faces up and the root end is facing down, BUT make sure you put the bulb exactly where it landed in the first place. Fill the trench up again with the soil you removed, and water the site. When bloom time comes, you will have beautiful, natural looking drifts of flowers, and strangers passing by will compliment your garden if they see you outside.

Don't waste your time or money with that darned Bulb Hound.