October is garlic month in zone 6, with a little leeway into November

Plant garlic in zone 6 in October. The window runs from mid-September to mid-November, but October gives the cloves time to grow roots in warm soil without pushing up much leaf before winter.

If you’re reading this in early November, you haven’t missed it. Get the cloves in by the middle of the month and they’ll be fine.

Why fall planting

Garlic needs a cold spell to split into separate cloves. A winter in the ground gives it all the cold it needs, plus a head start of roots, so it grows away fast in spring and makes big bulbs by early summer.

Planting in spring is possible, from early February to mid-March once the soil can be worked. The bulbs are usually smaller, and some varieties don’t split well.

Zone 6’s first frost is usually around October 17, but zones come from winter lows, not frost dates, so treat these as a guide. In a cold, exposed garden, plant toward the start of the window.

Hardneck or softneck

Zone 6 sits in the middle, so both grow well.

Hardneck garlic is the hardier of the two. It has fewer, larger cloves that are easy to peel, and it sends up scapes in June. It stores for four to six months.

Softneck garlic has more, smaller cloves and no scapes. It stores longer, often into spring, and it’s the type you can braid.

Planting

1. Choose a sunny bed with loose soil, and dig in compost. Garlic hates waterlogged ground.
2. Break the bulb into cloves just before planting. Keep the biggest ones to plant, as big cloves give big bulbs.
3. Push each clove in pointed end up, with the tip about 1 inch below the surface.
4. Space them 6 inches apart, in rows 12 inches apart. That’s nine to a square in square foot gardening.
5. Once the ground starts to cool in November, mulch with 4 to 6 inches of straw or shredded leaves.

The mulch stops the soil freezing and thawing over and over, which can push cloves out of the ground. Pull most of it back in spring once growth starts.

Garlic grows well near tomatoes, carrots, beets and strawberries. Keep it away from peas and beans.

Spring care

Feed with a nitrogen fertilizer, such as blood meal, when growth starts in spring and again a month later. Weed regularly, as garlic has few leaves and doesn’t compete well.

Water in dry spells until early June, then stop. Dry soil in the last few weeks helps the bulbs firm up for storing.

Harvesting

Garlic is ready from mid-June to July. Dig it when the lower third of the leaves have turned brown but the top ones are still green. Each green leaf is a layer of wrapper around the bulb, so waiting too long gives bulbs that split.

Loosen the soil with a fork and lift the whole plant. Hang it, or lay it out somewhere dry, airy and shaded for two to three weeks, then trim the roots and stalks.

For the same timing a zone colder, see garlic in zone 5, and for growing garlic anywhere, see how to grow garlic. Pick zone 6 on the garlic page for the full window.