Choosing planting

What is an Archimedes screw used for?

Little holes... Little holes... always little holes...

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Modified the 21 September 2025 by Olivier 3 min. Difficulty: Débutant

An Archimedes screw auger or hand auger is a tool rarely found in our gardens. Yet it is a particularly effective gardening, replanting or natural-area management tool in certain difficult-to-dig soils: very compact, clayey or heavily stony soil. The auger can make narrow and sometimes very deep holes (over 1 metre deep), which can then accommodate posts, stakes, as well as small perennials, bulbs or very young shrubs. Tired of breaking your back with a pickaxe in stony ground? Choose an Archimedes screw auger for your planting!

Difficulty

What is an Archimedes screw tendril?

An Archimedes screw auger is a manual auger consisting of a “T”-shaped handle for operating it while digging and an Archimedes screw, that is, a set of flights positioned on an axis. An auger must be made from exceptionally strong steel.

A manual auger is designed to make holes of a certain diameter and to a fairly considerable depth (sometimes more than a metre!). These holes are used for planting fence posts, as well as for planting perennials, bulbs or small shrubs, particularly bare roots.

Archimedes screw augers are particularly resistant to wear, making them suitable for frequent use, especially in gardens with difficult soils such as stony soils.

The Polet 90 mm Archimedes screw auger is fitted with a more robust Archimedes screw, making it even better suited to hard or stony soils than standard models. The particular shape of its flights makes it easier to bring coarse materials to the surface: soil, small stones… This model is made from bright red lacquered carbon steel and has a comfortable 45cm “T”-shaped handle. The auger has a total length of 106cm.

A little reminder of physics: an Archimedes screw, sometimes incorrectly called an “endless screw“, is a device used to move liquids (water, wastewater, muddy water…) or “fluid” solids (powder, grain…) by means of flights rotating around an axis. An Archimedes screw is therefore ultimately more akin to a kind of propeller, despite its name. Archimedes is credited with inventing it, although some authors claim that the idea is older. But let us not quibble over a few hundred years…

garden tool, Archimedes screw auger Polet 90 mm Archimedes screw auger

How to use an Archimedes screw auger?

Augers are hand-operated drills used to make small-diameter planting holes in soils that are difficult to dig, such as clay soils, very compact soils or hard, stony soils. This tool allows you to work without (too much) effort and, above all, without injuring yourself.

Grip the auger with both hands on the handles;
Turn the auger while pushing it into the soil at the same time, like a giant screw;
Keep turning the tool until the hole is deep enough;
Remove the auger by simply lifting it by the “T”: the soil will become “trapped” in the coils and will therefore be extracted;
The hole is ready! You can plant your stake or your plant.