So, what is your favourite? There are augers/rotos that you attach to a drill, hand-held plug units, stand-up contraptions, etc. But what works? I have quite heavy/sticky clay, which is presumably a relevant consideration.

Once in a while I also use a bulb auger attached to a heavy duty drill. It is deathly for worms and existing bulbs in the ground though. It is also difficult to handle in wet clay. I got whacked by the drill handle numerous times.

Since my garden is so stuffed now, I only use a trowel.

Trowel on hands and knees, place bulbs and put soil back with gloved hands.

I tamp down soil, spray with some critter repellant and cover with chicken wire or leaves for a couple weeks. Squirrels have been digging up Hyacinth "mound" all summer the little buggers.

If I were planting a whole bed I'd just remove the entire top layer of soil and then layer in bulbs with largest to smallest bulbs in ascending order (with soil in between).

That's just a dream, mind you. I'll be on my hands and knees with the trowel pretty soon. :)

This summer I invested in 2 different nice stainless steel spades with ergonomic handles, and love them both.

I'm hoping to have a lot of prize winning daff blooms in 2011.

Sue...a daff addict

Just a note: In very heavy clay soils like I have, your best investment of all is to prepare a bed for your bulbs by breaking up the soil and digging in soil amendments. Bulbs will absolutely rot in poorly drained soil, as I learned to my great sorrow. I planted 700 daffodils my first fall here, and fewer than 50 survived.

If you properly prepare the area, a trowel will more than suffice.

I have since fallen into the habit of underplanting deciduous shrubs with bulbs: roses, hydrangeas, ornamental grasses, etc. This is the best deal of all, as you give the ground another season of bloom. I plant the blooms six inches apart and it's amazing how many bulbs a relatively small area will accomodate.

I've used an auger, but too many tree roots so it wasn't fund detangling the auger or wrenching my arm as it flew off the power drill.

I go for a sharp trowel for individual bulbs like daffs and tulips, a dibble for small bulbs scattered around and a transplant spade to get daffs down deep one at a time. My soil is sticky and I a, grateful until I try to use one of thos bulb diggers and need to get it out. Too much trouble when I plant 2000 tulips and other bulbs.

my favorite: a long handled flat shovel to move enough topsoil to plant 100 tulips at a time.

good luck
c

Like cynthianovak, I will sometimes remove enough top soil to plant a large number at one time, esp. if it's a special color or variety.

With those limitations, it's amazing - takes 10 seconds to make a hole exactly as deep as you want. If you have someone to drop the bulb in the hole & push dirt back in, you can plant an amazing number in no time.

Did a fair amount of research, would not buy the one advertised online as cordless drill + auger for low low price, I'm sure that both drill & bit are junk. I ended up ordering one from http://www.gardenauger.com/ and has worked well. Got the heavy duty one, which has a sharp blade that cuts through smaller roots. Wasn't cheap but works great.