Planting guide

When to plant garlic

Plant cloves in the cool season and harvest bulbs next summer. In Melbourne it goes in Mar–Jun.

Start as: Bare-root plant
Ready in: 26–34 wks
Spacing: 12 cm
Depth: 5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means garlic can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Central Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Geelong	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Hobart	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Townsville	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Mandurah	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Launceston	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Mackay	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bunbury	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mildura	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
London	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Manchester	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Dublin	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
New York City	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Chicago	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Seattle	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Austin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Toronto	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Berlin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○

How to plant garlic

Buy seed garlic suited to your climate.
Split into cloves; plant 5 cm deep, point up.
Mulch and water sparingly.
Lift when lower leaves yellow; cure 3 weeks in shade.

Garlic varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Glenlarge Classicstorage · heavy-cropper · 26–31 wksBig bulbs; the reliable Aussie standard
Italian Red Classicstorage · hot · 26–31 wksStrongly flavoured red-purple bulbs
Australian White Classicstorage · mild · 26–31 wksMellow soft-neck garlic; keeps well
Tasmanian Purple Classiccold-hardy · storage · 29–34 wksPurple-striped hard-neck with robust flavour
Elephant Garlic Adventurousgiant · mild · 29–36 wksHuge mild cloves; really a leek relative
Rojo de Castro Adventurouscolourful · hot · 26–33 wksSpanish red with rich flavour
Early Purple Wight Classiccold-hardy · 26–33 wksBritish early variety, mild and sweet

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Tomato, Beet, Strawberry

Garlic by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Onion · Spring Onion · Leek · Shallot

Not sure garlic is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now