How to Plant Garlic in the Fall
How to plant garlic in the fall for flavourful, large garlic next summer. Get those cloves in the ground in the fall just before the soil freezes and snow flies.
When to Plant Garlic
Fall is the optimum time to plant garlic. With fall planting, garlic gets optimum growing time and exposure to cold that it needs for strong root development. This in turn leads to bigger, more uniform bulbs that have a great, strong flavour.
You want to give the roots a chance to develop, but you don’t want the greens to break through the surface and be killed by the cold. Ideally, plant garlic 2-4 weeks before the ground freezes solid. It’s a bit of guesswork to decide whether the cold, hard freeze will come early or late. In our Zone 2B-3 area, mid to late October is the best time to plant garlic.
How to Plant Garlic
1. Get local garlic – don’t use the garlic from your fridge or some random garlic from some random big name store. You’ll get better results from locally sourced garlic that is acclimated to your region. Next year, after your wildly successful garlic harvest, you can plant some of your own garlic!
2. Separate the garlic heads into the individual cloves (known as “cracking the bulb”). Â It’s not necessary to remove the papery layer, in fact, it’s best to keep it on and avoid damaging the cloves, especially the bottom or “basal plate” – the part where the roots will develop from. Do this step shortly before planting so the bottom does not dry out.
3. Prepare the Soil. Garlic enjoys a sunny location with loose, well-draining soil rich in organic matter. Loosen soil to a depth of about 8-10 inches and mix in plenty of organic matter, like compost, to improve drainage and fertility. Add a balanced fertilizer or bone meal to ensure garlic has access to essential nutrients through the growing season. And keep well weeded since it does not enjoy competition for water or nutrients.
4. Plant in full sun 4 inches (10cm) deep, with 4 inches (10cm) between each clove and 8 inches (20cm) between rows. Garlic needs plenty of room to grow because it is a heavy feeder and does not like competing for water or nutrients with any other plants.
5. Ensure the pointy end is sticking up and the root end is firmly planted in the soil. Cover with soil.
6. Cover garlic bed with 4-6 inches of mulch, straw or leaves.
7.Watch for garlic to sprout early in the spring. If you find cutworms in your garden, consider putting a collar (cardboard tissue roll) around each garlic clove to protect them from these hungry dudes who are eager to chomp anything green in early spring. Can you spot the cutworm in the first picture?
8. Weed well throughout the growing season, garlic doesn’t like competition from weeds.
9. Enjoy scapes in July. These curly garlic seed heads can be chopped and used like garlic in recipes. You could also make garlic scape pesto or fry garlic scapes as is. Getting scapes is one of the benefits of fall planting.
10. Harvest in late July or early August when the green tops dry out and fall over. That’ll be the cue to harvest the garlic and for us to talk about delicious oven roasted garlic.
Can I Plant Garlic in Spring?
It’s not optimal, but yes, you can plant garlic in early spring. Do so as soon as the ground is workable, even if there is still some frost in the ground and temps dip below freezing. I know this, because I’ve done it a couple of times when I’ve forgotten to plant garlic in the fall.
But there are consequences to planting in the spring – bulbs will not fully develop and you probably won’t get any scapes. The bulbs may be small or not fully split into separate cloves. You’ll still get some great flavour, but it won’t be the garlic of your dreams. Nonetheless, go for it. Small garlic is better than no garlic!
For more gardening How To’s, check out the following posts:
If you harvest your garlic around the August long weekend, the cloves will still be in a tight head, will dry and keep well. If you wait longer, the cloves will start to open up and don’t keep well.
You’re absolutely right, Dodie. Harvest when the leaves have dried and flopped over, don’t wait til fall. The garlic cloves will become much loser and open up and will not store well over winter if left too long.