Garlic Goes in the Ground This Fall, But Timing It Wrong Can Ruin Next Year’s Harvest

Garlic needs a carefully timed fall planting so cloves can establish roots before winter without producing excessive tender top growth, setting the stage for next summer’s harvest – Shutterstock

Garlic belongs in the fall garden, but the calendar matters more than many gardeners realize. Plant too early and the cloves can push up tender growth before winter, while planting too late can leave them scrambling to build the root system they need.

That makes garlic a little different from the vegetables that demand attention during summer. Once planted, the cloves spend the colder months quietly building roots beneath the soil, then put much more energy into leafy growth and bulb development when spring arrives.