When to Plant Garlic in Zone 7

Garlic timing in zone 7

Most of zone 7 sees its first fall frost between October 18 and October 29, with a typical date of October 23. If your first frost comes earlier, plant toward the start of the window; if it comes later, plant toward the end. The tool above uses the weather station closest to your ZIP code.

Why garlic is planted in fall

Garlic needs a period of cold to form full bulbs. Planted in fall, cloves grow roots before winter and stay dormant until spring. Then they start growing early and have a long season to bulk up before harvest. Garlic planted in spring often forms small bulbs or single rounds without cloves.

Best garlic varieties for zone 7

Zone 7 is cold enough for hardneck garlic and mild enough for many softnecks, so you can grow both:

• Hardneck garlic handles cold winters best, has bigger cloves and a richer flavor, and gives you edible scapes in early summer. It stores for about 3–4 months. Try Music, German White, Chesnok Red or Spanish Roja.
• Softneck garlic yields more cloves per bulb and stores for 6–8 months, so it lasts through winter. Try Inchelium Red, Lorz Italian or French Red.

Buy seed garlic from a garden supplier rather than the grocery store. Grocery garlic is often grown for milder climates and may not form good bulbs.

How to plant garlic

1. Choose a sunny spot with well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Work in compost before planting.
2. Break the bulbs into cloves a day or two before planting. Keep the papery skins on, and plant the largest cloves: they grow the largest bulbs.
3. Plant pointed end up, 2–3 inches deep and 6 inches apart, in rows 12–18 inches apart or in double rows on raised beds.
4. Water if the soil is dry.
5. Mulch with weed-free straw or shredded leaves. It evens out winter temperature swings and keeps weeds down.

Zone 7 garlic tips

• Don’t plant too early. Cloves planted in warm soil can sprout leaves before winter, and those leaves are easily damaged by the cold.
• Feed in spring, not summer. Garlic needs nitrogen as shoots emerge and a few weeks later. Stop by early May, because late feeding delays bulbing.
• Water during bulbing. Garlic has shallow roots, and May and June are when it needs steady moisture most. Stop watering about two weeks before harvest.
• Time the harvest by the leaves. Dig when the lower leaves have browned but about half the leaves are still green. Too early gives small bulbs; too late and the cloves split from their skins.

Harvesting and curing garlic

Loosen the soil with a garden fork and lift the bulbs with their leaves and roots attached. Brush off loose soil, but don’t wash them. Hang the plants in bunches or lay them on screens in a dry, shaded, airy place until the skins are papery. Then trim the roots and cut the stems about an inch above the bulb. Save your largest bulbs to plant next fall.

Garlic planting dates in nearby zones

• Zone 6October 6 – October 27
• Zone 8October 28 – November 18

See dates for every zone on the garlic planting guide, or build a full schedule with the planting calendar.