Vegetable · Amaryllidaceae
When to plant garlic
Planted in autumn, harvested the following summer. The one crop where the first frost is the planting cue.
Days to maturity
240-270
From sowing to a first picking.
Frost tolerance
Very hardy
How much cold the plant itself will take.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Garlic are anchored to the first autumn frost rather than the last spring one, so the useful offset runs backwards from the end of the season instead of forwards from its start.
- Expect 240–270 days to maturity, counted from sowing.
- Can also be sown in late summer for an autumn crop or to overwinter.
Getting the timing right
Plant four to six weeks before your first autumn frost so roots establish before the ground cools. Hardneck types require a genuine cold period and will not bulb properly in mild-winter climates.
Frost tolerance
Survives -20C under mulch. Hardnecks need six to eight weeks below 10C to form cloves, making this a crop that actively requires winter.
Classified as very-hardy, with damage expected below -20°C (-4°F)-4°F (-20°C).