Every gardener should invest in an earth auger. Of course, if you have rocky terrain you should probably invest in rock augers as well. If you’re not familiar with the auger then you’re about to be.
What Is An Earth Auger?
Augers are designed like large drill pieces. They have a pointed tip and spiralling sections moving up the length of the auger. In fact, they work in the same way as a drill. The auger twists its way into the soil to create a hole. As it moves soil is pushed up and out of the hole via the spiralling sections. It allows you to create a clean hole without the sides falling.
Augers come in a variety of sizes and styles, earth augers are designed to create holes in earth while rock augers can cut into rock. The auger can be almost any width you want and will go as deep as you need.
Gardeners find them useful when creating planting holes, the right size auger will create a hole for a seed, seedling, or a full-grown plant.
The Advantages Of An Earth Auger
If you’ve ever spent time planting you’ll know how tedious it can be to create the various holes needed for planting. The earth auger makes this job simpler, much less effort, and decidedly faster.
But, the biggest advantage of the auger is that it doesn’t require you to break your back in the process. Instead of having to put a lot of effort into digging with a spade, pickaxe, or something similar, the auger can be attached to a power supply that does all the work for you.
The power supply depends on the size of the auger. Smaller ones can be used with a conventional drill, cordless or corded. Larger ones will come with their own powerhead.
Of course, unless you’re going to use a large auger often you’ll be better off renting the item and purchasing a smaller one yourself.
Sizes of Augers
The smallest augers are 2-3 inches in diameter and can be between 7-48 inches long. These can be used with your standard drill. Larger ones, that’s over 4 inches and as large as 9 inches, can be virtually any length but need a dedicated powerhead to ensure they have enough power to do the job.
The smallest earth augers are perfect for planting. Medium augers are best suited to fence posts, while the largest diameters are good for planting trees and even creating boreholes.
Precision
It’s also worth noting that the earth auger is very precise. It makes the size hole you want, exactly where you want. That enables you to add plants, fence posts, and other items in an exact spot. That’s useful if you have any utilities under your yard and need to avoid them.
You can even use an auger to create a horizontal hole, allowing you to lay a pipe in a specific location. That can be good for utilities or even for irrigation.