It's Time to Plant Garlic
Do you like garlic? Are you thinking about planting it this fall? Would you like free garlic for life? Well stop thinking, read this article, and plant some garlic!
I am a Canadian, and like most Canadians, I celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. Canadian Thanksgiving is a popular event that means many things to many people - but it’s also a good time to plant garlic - or at least to start thinking about it1.
My general rule of thumb is to get my garlic in the ground when the leaves are falling from the trees and frosts start to occur. That usually happens around the middle of October, but not always. The great thing about rules of thumb is that they are not rules at all, but more like guidelines. While I typically plant some garlic on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, this past weekend I only prepared one bed due to competing priorities and poor weather (and laziness and procrastination), so it will have to happen later this week. Thankfully it really doesn’t matter, because are very forgiving plants.
Why does hard-neck garlic need to be planted in fall?
An extended period of cold temperatures (below ~40°F/4°C), sustained for a few weeks, is needed to prompt the garlic clove to form a bulb the following spring. This process is called “vernalization”. Since the ground freezes in the colder parts of the world, garlic cannot easily be planted during winter, and if it is planted in spring - the cold period may not be cold enough for long enough to trigger bulb formation.
How important is the timing of the fall planting?
It is… and it isn’t. Ideal timing results in maximum root development with minimal shoot development before the ground freezes. When this happens, the bulb has a well developed system for gathering water and nutrients, and all of its stored energy ready for vigorous growth in spring. Planting a little too early will result in fantastic root development, but the clove might “think” it is spring and start growing and sending up shoots. This wastes energy because the shoots will die back in the extreme cold of winter). Planting too late results in very little root development, and delayed growth the following spring.
With the above having been said - perfect planting times are hard to get right - especially in location like mine where the rate of seasonal change can be highly variable from year to year. Thankfully, garlic are very tough2 and they will usually be fine regardless of how poorly timed the planting occurs. I have experimented with planting them as early s mid-September, and as late as the end of November. In all cases they grew and gave me garlic the following spring - but I think they do best when ideal timing is achieved.
Where should they be planted?
Garlic do best when they get the best of everything. They want the best sun and the best soil. People have a tendency to tuck garlic into all the little corners, nooks and crannies in their gardens. Garlic will grow in these spots - but they will probably be tiny garlic. A better policy is to give them what they want. I choose beds with great soil that get sun all day long3. It is also very important to choose beds that do not have drainage problems. Garlic can die if they are encased in ice, or drowned in water for too long.
How do you plant garlic?
Loosen up the top few inches of soil. Whatever compost has been cooking all spring, summer and fall should be added to those beds (or any other good organic amendment). The garlic are planted about 2-3” (5-8 cm) deep and spaced about 6” (15 cm) apart. The entire bed is then covered in about 3-5” of leaves or some other mulch. For seed stock - I recommend certified seed garlic. It has been harvested and stored the right way, and it is free of diseases. It costs more than grocery store garlic, but it is worth it. One batch of compromised garlic can render your garden useless for growing garlic for years - and may also affect the health of other alliums like onions and shallots.
What needs to be done the following spring?
The mulch will prevent weeds from growing and maintain moisture levels. I never water my garlic and rarely need to weed them. The garlic start growing in April and will have no problem pushing their way up through the mulch. By late May, they will send up “garlic scapes”. These are flower-like shoots - but they are not flowers.
The scapes need to be removed once they make a full 360 degree twist. At this point in their development they are tender enough to use for cooking, but have not yet removed too much energy from the plant, and will not grow back.
Removing scapes encourages the plant to send all its energy to the bulbs and will result in bulbs that are 20% - 30% larger. The scapes are also a great culinary ingredient with a mild garlic flavor. I use them in all of my cooking in May/June, and preserve the excess scapes as a pesto.
What needs to be done in summer?
At some point in late July or early August, the leaves start turning brown. When this happens, all of the garlic need to be pulled, or they will start to take root and will not be very good for cooking or storage. At this point in time, the beds can still be used for a late planting of bush beans, or peas, or fast growing greens - or anything else that grows fast.
How do you store garlic?
Garlic is easy to store. The first step is drying them. To do this, I cut the tops back to about 1” (3 cm), then carefully remove the root hairs from the bottoms - then place them on a sheet of cardboard somewhere out of the sun with good airflow (or by a small fan). I leave them like that for a week or two. All of the garlic I want to store are then placed in a cardboard box in my “storage fridge” (a fridge in my garage that functions like a cold room/root cellar). The garlic that I set aside for seed stock (the 50 biggest and best bulbs) are left in a cardboard box on the floor of my garage (cool - but not as cold as the fridge) until October, when the whole thing starts all over again!
Final thoughts
Garlic is easy to grow, it stores well, and is an important ingredient for many dishes. It is also becoming more and more expensive each year. By growing your own and setting aside bulbs for seed stock each year, you can literally have free garlic for life. If you like garlic and have the space, it is a no-brainer. It’s not too late to buy some bulbs and get some planted this fall - so give it a try!
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For the sake of this article, I am writing about the planting of hard-neck garlic. I have only ever planted hard-neck garlic, so I cannot speak with any degree of authority about the planting and growing of soft-neck garlic. Hard-neck tends to have more varieties that are cold hardy, but there are varieties of soft-neck that are also cold hardy. Plant either, but more reading and research beyond this article may be needed if you are interested in trying soft-neck garlic.
I once dropped a few cloves on my front lawn in October. The following spring I noticed that they had taken root and were sending up shoots!
The sun is constantly changing is path over the course of the growing season. If “real estate” is at a premium - choose beds that get good spring sun. Garlic do most of their growing in spring, so that’s when they need all the sun the can get.