Planting Fall Hardneck Garlic in a Cold Climate [Step-by-Step Instructions]

Here are some additional details about the steps we use to plant our hardneck garlic in the fall. The best time to plant fall garlic in a cold climate is 4-6 weeks before your soil freezes for winter. It may take you a couple of seasons to figure out the best timing in your location. This amount of time is enough to allow for some root growth but not enough time for top shoots to develop. We don't want shoot growth before winter, because the tops are not as hardy at extreme temperatures as the cloves and their roots.
1:30 Step 1: Divide your garlic heads into their individual cloves just before planting. Select only the garlic heads with the largest cloves for planting, because large clove size has been shown to produce larger bulbs the following season.
3:00 Step 2: Loosen the soil with a broadfork or garden fork. This reduces compaction, adds oxygen to the soil, and promotes excellent moisture penetration.
3:45 Step 3: Use a tilther to soften the top couple inches of soil. This makes it easier to plant the cloves. (If you don’t own a tilther, a shallow pass of a rototiller is one alternative. It is also possible to plant into firm soil with a little more digging. Another option is to spread a thicker 3 inch layer of compost on the surface first, and then plant your cloves into that softer compost.)
4:25 Step 4: Rake and mark the beds. The marking can be done with wooden dowels inserted over the tines of a rake at desired spacing. An excellent spacing for garlic is 6 inches between rows and 6 inches between cloves in the row. This will produce large heads and good overall yields. For slightly larger heads, spacing can be increased slightly, but overall yields will decrease. For slightly larger overall yields, spacing can be tightened slightly, but bulb size will decrease.
5:25 Step 5: Plant the cloves by inserting them one at a time at their desired spacing. Make sure the tips of the cloves are pointed upward in the soil. We aim for an overall depth of 4 inches below the surface, so we first plant them at a depth of 2-3 inches, before adding a topcoat of compost.
6:28 Step 6: Give the newly planted cloves a thorough watering. This will stimulate root development right away. Resist the urge to water more. There is little evaporation of moisture from the soil in cooler fall temperatures and excess moisture will increase the risk of rotting cloves. I watered by hand in this case, because our irrigation system was already cleaned up for the winter.
6:35 Step 7: Top the beds with 1-2 inches of compost. Since the cloves are pressed a couple of inches into the soil, there should be no risk of dislodging them.
7:55 Step 8: Cover the beds with 3-6 inches of mulch. We usually use leaves, but any organic material is acceptable. The purpose of the mulch is to provide a little insulation and regulate the temperature of the soil during periods when there may be no snow cover. Without it, the soil around the cloves will have to endure lower temperatures and possibly multiple freeze thaw cycles which will decrease the rate of survival.
When the snow melts in spring, rake back the mulch to enable the soil to warm up faster. This makes a big difference to accelerate the early growth of your garlic, which in turn leaves you with large cloves to harvest later in summer!
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