When to plant Garlic

Planted from individual cloves in autumn, garlic roots before winter, then races ahead in spring. Hardneck types send up edible flower stalks (scapes) and store a few months; softnecks keep longer and braid well. Harvest when the lower leaves brown.

Companions: Tomato, carrot, beets, fruit trees — avoid beans and peas

How to grow Garlic

Garlic can be grown from seed on the schedule below. Give it full sun and space plants about 6 inches apart. It takes roughly 240 days from planting to its first harvest, so count that against your frost dates to be sure it can finish. It also supports a fall sowing for a second harvest. Classic companions include tomato, carrot, beets, fruit trees — avoid beans and peas.

Grower's tip: Plant cloves in fall, a few weeks before the ground freezes; harvest the following summer.

When to plant Garlic by USDA zone

Timing shifts with your climate — the same garlic goes in weeks earlier in a mild zone than a cold one. Find your zone below for its planting window, or open that zone's full calendar.

← All crops · Read the planting guides →