Get Going With Garlic

Reader Contribution by Nan K. Chase
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A lot of gardeners fail with garlic. I used to be one of them, but found the secret to growing amazing garlic at home is just timing.

Garlic must be planted in fall, not spring, and knowing when to sow the bulbs of seed garlic is the key to success. Emerging garlics overwinter in the ground and then begin their growth in earnest during spring. Harvest usually takes place the July following your fall planting.

The rest: order seed garlic as soon as possible in August or September (supplies are always tight, and garden centers often don’t carry garlic), and prepare a rich and deeply worked bed as you wait for the bulbs to arrive. Plant before a hard frost sets in; this ranges from late September in the far north, October in middle climates, and into December or January in the south. Each clove (seed) of garlic you plant will yield a whole head next year. 

It’s a good idea to mulch young garlic heavily with straw over the winter, to keep it from heaving out of frozen ground, and then to remove the mulch and cultivate the soil lightly when spring heats up. Provide plenty of water in early summer.

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