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How to prepare your garden to grow garlic.
If you have always wanted to try and grow garlic but you didn’t know where to start, you have come to the right place!
Wait until you taste fresh garlic from your own garden. The flavor is amazing! Even if you only have a tiny flower bed, you can still plant garlic. It’s not only delicious but it will help keep certain pests out of your garden due to the scent. Give it a try!
Can I plant garlic from the grocery store?
DO NOT buy garlic bulbs at the grocery store and plant those. Garlic bulbs you purchase at the grocery store are typically imported from other countries and have often been treated with chemicals that prevent the garlic from sprouting/growing. You will not be happy with the garlic if you plant these cloves.
You need to purchase ¨seed garlic¨ from either a local garlic farm or farmers market. If you are lucky enough you may even find a local garlic farm that has many varieties of garlic for you to try. The sky’s the limit.
When choosing which cloves to plant, look at the size of the individual garlic cloves. The biggest cloves grow the biggest bulbs. Even if you are planting garlic from your own harvest, make sure you pick the largest cloves to plant.
If you are more of a visual person, check out the Youtube Video below to see how I am preparing to plant my garlic.
Location is key!
When you are thinking about growing garlic, have a peek around your property. You need to pick a nice sunny location that preferably faces south. You want to be certain the area is fairly dry and drains well. Garlic will not do well if it is planted in a location that is wet.
If you are planning to plant your garlic in a garden, be certain to avoid areas where you will be planting beans or peas. Garlic can actually impact the growth of these vegetables. You also want to avoid planting garlic near anything from the onion family as onion maggots may affect your crop well.
What is companion planting?
Companion planting is a great solution for many reasons. Companion planting basically means, you plant certain vegetables or even flowers or herbs together to help discourage certain insects from eating your vegetables and also helps to prevent diseases.
When space is limited, you want to be certain to make use of every little inch. Garlic can be planted near spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, carrots, strawberries or even roses if you are planting the garlic in your flower bed.
If you have the space, I would recommend you plant your garlic in a separate area. I have always had a “garlic garden”. This has worked well for me. Plus, my pumpkins and butternut squash always end up taking over my big garden. That’s another story.
Can I plant garlic in the same area every year?
Garlic should be rotated every 3-4 years. Some people will disagree with this theory. Many people believe if new compost or manure is added to the area each year, crop rotation is not necessary when growing garlic.
The theory behind crop rotation is to rotate the crop (for example: garlic) and introduce a new crop to the area. This helps to ensure the soil is not depleted of appropriate nutrients. It also helps to prevent certain diseases and pests from developing in the soil.
I’m going to press my luck and plant garlic in the same spot this year. Hopefully this does not backfire on me. My garlic crop has been quite successful so far. This will be year 4 in the same area. I’ll keep you posted!
How do I prepare the soil for planting garlic?
If the area has not been worked before, you need to remove any weeds or grass and till the ground. Next add some compost and/or manure and till the area again.
If you are planning to plant your garlic in an existing garden or an area that you have planted garlic before, you still need to weed the area, till the area and add compost and/or manure.
What happens if the area is all clay?
Garlic will not grow well in clay. If your area has a lot of clay, you will need to be certain to build your soil up or even build a separate raised garden bed. In a raised bed you control the type of soil that is in the bed. This enables you to have more success at growing garlic.
Building raised garden beds will be more work initially. This hard work will pay off when you see how incredible your garlic harvest is next summer.
What type of manure should I use?
We use a combination of horse and rabbit manure in our gardens and we have had amazing garlic harvests. Adding manure and/or compost is an important step to be certain the soil is balanced.
I know it sounds kind of disgusting to be adding manure to your garden but don’t miss this important step. You can always add compost if you prefer. That is a completely acceptable option.
I would recommend preparing your garden approximately 1 month prior to planting. You want to be certain you allow the area to sit for approximately 3-4 weeks prior to planting your garlic.
Garlic is extremely easy to grow and very low maintenance. If you would like more information about actually planting garlic, make sure you check out my blog post ‘How To Plant Garlic For Beginners’.
Let me know in the comments if you are planning to plant garlic this fall. I would love to hear from you.
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