Planting Garlic
Garlic is a cool season vegetable in the Amaryllidaceae family. Getting the timing right is the difference between a strong stand and a disappointing one, so the windows below are given relative to your own last spring frost and first fall frost rather than a generic calendar date. Look up your local frost dates and count back or forward from there.
You can sow Garlic directly into the garden 16–20 weeks before your last frost.
For a fall crop, sow 4–6 weeks before your first fall frost so plants mature as the weather cools.
Spacing and Planting Depth
Give Garlic room to mature. The figures below come from verified extension and seed-supplier data for typical varieties.
| Spacing in row | 6 inches |
|---|---|
| Row spacing | 12 inches |
| Plants per sq ft | 2 |
| Planting depth | 2 inches |
| Sun requirement | Full sun |
Plan a square-foot bed with Garlic →
Calculate plants in a bed for Garlic →
Days to Maturity
Garlic reaches maturity in 240–270 days from sowing.
Garlic is ready to harvest after about 255 days. Harvest before summer heat or, for fall crops, before a hard freeze, to keep quality high.
Conditions and Care
As a cool-season vegetable, Garlic does its best growing in the cooler weather of spring and fall and tends to bolt or turn bitter in summer heat. It is frost hardy and can shrug off light freezes, so it can stay in the ground later into the season than tender crops.
Garlic needs full sun — give it at least six hours of direct light a day for the best growth and flavor. Sow seed about 2 inches deep, then keep the soil evenly moist until seedlings establish.
Garlic belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family; rotating where you grow members of this family each year helps limit the build-up of soil-borne pests and disease. Garlic is generally grown as a single planting each season rather than succession sown.
See Garlic in the full planting calendar for your ZIP →
Plan crop rotation for Amaryllidaceae →
Companion Plants
Pairing Garlic with the right neighbors can improve growth and deter pests; a few combinations are best avoided.
Grows well with: Tomato, Pepper (Bell), Beets
Keep away from: Shelling Peas, Green Beans (Bush)
Check Garlic with other crops in your garden →
Growing Notes
Fall-planted; harvest following summer.
Related Crops
Other crops you might grow alongside or instead of Garlic.
In the same family
Garlic is in the Amaryllidaceae family. Other Amaryllidaceae crops in the Gardenable database:
Documented companions
These crops are listed as good growing partners for Garlic:
Similar growing requirements
Crops with similar season and time to maturity — useful if you want a diverse garden on a similar schedule: