Some garden plants are finicky and high-maintenance, but not garlic. You’ll spend barely two hours from start to finish cultivating your year’s supply, including harvesting it next summer, and it needs little care. For most gardeners, autumn is the best time to get started. Here’s a quick beginner’s guide to growing garlic and why we…
When To Plant Garlic
The ideal time to plant garlic is about four to six weeks before the ground freezes in your USDA growing zone. To be clear, we’re not talking about just the first frost, but about when the ground actually freezes solid. Depending on where you live, this can happen anytime from late September to December. If you’re growing in a warmer climate where the ground never freezes, don’t worry — you can still follow the same planting timeline.
This schedule caters to garlic’s natural life cycle. In the weeks before the ground freezes, it will put out roots but won’t produce any top growth. Then, as the soil thaws and the sun returns in spring, the green shoots will be among the first things to appear in your garden. By late July or early August, it will be ready to harvest.
How To Plant Garlic
You can grow out whatever garlic your supermarket sells (preferably organic), or buy garlic for planting from a nursery or seed supplier. Hardneck varieties, which have a woody stem in the middle of the bulb, are your best bet for northern and Midwest gardens. As a bonus, these are the types that produce garlic scapes (seed stems) in midsummer. Softneck varieties lack the central stem and are better suited for warmer climates.
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Separate the individual cloves and plant the largest ones, as big cloves grow big bulbs. Plant each clove, peel still on, with the flat root end facing down and the pointy tip facing up, about 2 inches deep and 6 inches apart. Cover the soil with 3 to 5 inches of straw or mulch to protect them from harsh winter weather and suppress weeds in the spring. For best growth, be sure to water your bulbs consistently in spring and early summer, and consider using a bit of fish fertilizer every week or two.
Harvest and Storage
Hardneck garlic will put up scapes in mid-to-late June, so be sure to harvest and enjoy those while you’re waiting for your main crop. Your bulbs will usually be ready by late July or early August. Leave them to dry or “cure” in a well-ventilated space for a few weeks. Then, you can either hang them or pack them in paper bags and store them in a cool, dark place for the long term.
