So, you’ve bought your garlic bulbs. Now what? Now is the perfect time to start planting garlic, as this plant needs a good cold spell to bulb out properly.
Ideally, you’ll have a well-draining, nutrient-rich soil. But if you are working with thick, gelatinous clay, you can make your garlic feel welcome by digging in plenty of sand and well-rotted organic matter beforehand. Garlic is a winter warrior plant, but it does have some needs: you can’t plonk the cloves in boggy, heavy ground all winter and expect to pull out mammoth bulbs the following season. Poor drainage can lead to nasty diseases like white rot, which means you can’t grow any alliums for more than eight years. Which would be awful.
Once you’ve prepared the soil (removing any stones as well), dig a hole around four to five inches deep, and place the clove with the pointed end facing upwards at the bottom. Fill the hole in, and space each clove six or seven inches apart to allow for maximum growth.
And that’s it. Garlic is such an obliging, trouble-free plant. You’ll be harvesting the bulbs from July to August. Some varieties produce scapes, which must be cut off, and are brilliant in stir-fries, pasta dishes, and a fiery pesto.
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