Botanical Name: Allium sativum

Family: Amaryllidaceae

Type and Use: Herbaceous perennial with edible flowers, leaves and cloves

Location: Full sun to partial shade

Planting Dates: Fall is best, but can be planted in the spring. In Dallas, I plant between October 1 - October 15.

Planting Methods: Cloves or bulblets

Seed Emergence: 7-14 days

Harvest Time: Varies, but should be done as the leaves start to turn brown. It’s bad advice to wait until the tops turn brown and fall over. At that point the bulbs will be over-mature and often split open like a flower. At this point, food value will begin to diminish. Garlic can’t be stored in the ground as onions can. Watering too long or too wet soil will cause bulbs to rot. Days to harvest range from 90 to 180.

Height: 12 inches - 4 feet, some even taller

Spread: 6 inches

Final Spacing: 4 - 6 inches

Growth Habits: Considerable variance in the various subspecies. Some have flower heads and some don’t. I think garlic is a beautiful plant and useful in the landscape garden, herb garden, and vegetable garden.

Culture: Easy to grow in healthy soil. Good drainage is essential so raised beds, rows or hills are best. Fertilize at least twice with an organic fertilizer and spray at least monthly with Garrett Juice.

Using (hopefully, organically grown) large bulbs, separate into individual cloves and plant them in prepared soil, 1 inch deep in clay soil, 2 inches deep in sandy soil. Point up is the best but, I’m usually going too fast and lay the cloves on their sides. Soaking the cloves in seaweed and water before planting is helpful. Putting cornmeal in the soil at planting also helps, especially if your garden soil is not alive and healthy yet. Water the cloves in and then cover with about 1 1/2 inches compost.

The garlic sprouts will emerge within a few weeks and the plants will continue to grow into the winter in the southern states. A little browning of the leaf tips is normal. On nights of hard freeze, you can cover the planting with floating row cover.

Increase the thickness of the mulch as the plants grow to maintain perfect soil conditions. Every garden should have plants of garlic. It’s easy to grow and one of the most useful plants in the world.

Troubles and Solutions: Few problems, if any, when planted in healthy soil and at the right time of the year.

Harvest and Storage: Garlic should be cured slowly indoors, in low humidity, not in wind rows in the garden. Dig the bulbs when the leaves begin to turn brown in the summer and store in a cool, dry place. In order to avoid diseases, bruising and other causes of spoilage, the bulb wrappers should cover the cloves. A good rule of thumb is to harvest the bulbs when the top has at least 5 leaves. Each leaf represents a bulb wrapper. Each brown leaf means a dead or decaying bulb wrapper. When wrappers are damaged or gone, the garlic cloves are not necessarily ruined, but they are possibly injured and in danger of spoilage. Do now wash the bulbs, and do not trim off the roots and tops.

Notes: For larger bulbs, cut the flowering stems as they emerge from the foliage. Giant garlic or elephant garlic is actually a leek and has a milder flavor than true garlic. Chew fresh leaves of parsley or sweet basil to cure "garlic breath." The high chlorophyll content helps to neutralize the garlic odor. Garlic tea is an excellent insect control.

Using garlic as an ornamental plant is often overlooked. I plant garlic in the perennial beds, the herb garden, and even in pots because I like the way it looks. The foliage is dark green and the flowers are dramatic. Just don’t let the flower heads mature and scatter or you will have garlic everywhere!

Varieties: Texas White, Elephant.