How to Plant Garlic Cloves in Your Garden

You don't have to be a master gardener to grow garlic cloves in your garden successfully. Garlic grows well in most climates and can be planted indoors as well as outside. Experiment in your garden by planting large garlic cloves from your local grocery store or garlic cloves purchased from a garden center. Keep in mind, grocery store bulbs tend to grow better in pots as opposed to planted in gardens because they are less hearty. Use fresh garlic in your favorite recipes, saving a few to be planted in your garden next year.

Garlic bulbs
Organic compost
Sand
Towel
Fertilizer

Instructions

- 1
  Peel off the paperlike outer skin of the garlic, leaving the inner cloves intact. Use the largest garlic cloves for planting and then set the smaller ones aside for cooking.
- 2
  Loosen the soil 10 inches deep in your garden. Work in a handful of sand and organic compost into the soil to ensure it is well drained. Soak the soil with water. If the soil drains in three hours, it drains properly for planting garlic.
- 3
  Plant each garlic clove flat side down under 1 inch of soil and 4 inches apart. Plant the cloves in your garden around late October --- before the ground freezes.
- 4
  Fertilize with a general all-purpose fertilizer in March and late May. Water the garden when rain fall is low and keep it free from weeds.
- 5
  Harvest your garlic in late August when leaves start to brown. Dig up and inspect just one bulb. Garlic is ready to eat when it has three layers of paperlike skin. Otherwise, allow the garlic cloves to stay in the ground for an additional two weeks.

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