Plant Now: 5 Tools for Australia’s Autumn Bulb & Garlic Window

1. Adjustable Bulb Planter: The Quick Workhorse

If you are new to bulbs or just want to get a single bed of garlic in this weekend without overthinking it, this is the tool to grab. The RYSET Adjustable Bulb Planter uses a serrated zinc-finished steel core that twists cleanly into prepared soil, lifts a perfect plug, and lets you drop a clove or bulb in and seal the hole behind you.

The killer feature here is the adjustable depth gauge. You can set it to roughly 5–7 cm for garlic cloves, 10–12 cm for tulips, or push deeper for daffodils and alliums — without measuring every single hole.

Pro Tip: Run a garden fork through your bed first to break up any compaction. The bulb planter does its best work in loose, friable soil and will struggle in rocky or hard ground.

2. Stainless Steel Dibber: The Garlic Specialist

Garlic cloves and small bulbs do not need a wide planting hole — they need a narrow, uniform one at the right depth, every time. The Stainless Steel Dibber (285mm T-handle) is the traditional answer, with a polished stainless point that punches a clean hole and a comfortable T-handle made from FSC-certified ashwood.

It is also the best tool we sell for direct-sowing peas and broad beans, which go in alongside garlic in autumn beds. The depth markings let you plant a 50-clove garlic bed in minutes, and because the FSC ashwood handle is built to last, it will outlive a dozen plastic alternatives.

3. Krumpholz Slim Trowel: The Hand-Forged Heirloom

For tight spaces, established borders, or stony Australian soils where a bulb planter just bounces off, you want a narrow, hand-forged blade. The Krumpholz Slim Trowel is exactly that — a German-forged steel blade on a turned ash handle, narrow enough to slide between existing perennials without disturbing their root systems.

This is the trowel you reach for when you are tucking new bulbs in among existing plantings, working in raised beds with rocky fill, or transplanting self-seeded garlic into a more orderly row. Treated well, it is genuinely a generational tool.

Pro Tip: Wipe the blade with a light coating of vegetable oil before storing it for the winter. Hand-forged carbon steel rewards a little maintenance with decades of service.

4. MANZANA Garlic Shears: Plant Now, Harvest Ready

Here is a tool that closes the loop on the entire garlic season. You plant your cloves in May, watch the green shoots come through winter, and by November or December you are pulling fat, plump bulbs out of the ground — and that is when the MANZANA Garlic Shears earn their keep.

The high-alloy steel blade is shaped specifically to top-and-tail garlic in one smooth cut, trimming roots and stems cleanly so the bulbs cure properly for storage. If you grow more than a handful of garlic plants — or you have ever sat at the kitchen bench with secateurs trying to clean up a wheelbarrow of fresh harvest — you will understand the joy of a tool built for one job.

5. Stainless Long Reach Bulb Planter: The No-Bend Premium

If you are planting at scale — a hundred daffodils naturalised under a deciduous tree, a wave of tulips down a driveway, or a serious cool-season display in a public garden — bending and kneeling for every bulb will end your weekend before lunch. The Stainless Long Reach Bulb Planter solves that with a 930mm shaft and stirrup-style foot bar.

You stand upright, place the head, push down with your foot, and twist out a perfect plug. The polished stainless head sheds soil cleanly even in heavy clay, and the FSC-certified ashwood handle gives you the strength and feel of a traditional tool with sustainable provenance. It is also a brilliant gift for older gardeners who love their bulbs but no longer love their knees.