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BulbsHerbs - Culinary

Allium sativum

garlic

A perennial vegetable grown as an annual, garlic produces an aromatic, strongly flavoured, edible bulb. Each bulb consists of a number of individual cloves (bulblets) are widely used in cooking. Garlic can be either softneck which produce bulbs with small tightly packed cloves, seldom flower and store well or hardneck which have strongly flavoured cloves, often produce flower stalks, but only store until mid-winter

Other common names

churl's treacle
clown's treacle
see morecommon garlic
poor man's treacle

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Ultimate height

0.1–0.5 metres

Time to ultimate height

1 year

Ultimate spread

0.1–0.5 metres

Chalk

Loam

Sand

Moisture

Well–drained

pH

Alkaline, Neutral

	Stem	Flower	Foliage	Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Full sun

Aspect

East–facing or South–facing or West–facing

Exposure

Sheltered

Hardiness
Hardiness ratings
All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets
H1a: under glass all year (>15C)
H1b: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
H1c: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)

Botanical details

Family: Amaryllidaceae
Native to the UK: No
Foliage: Deciduous
Habit: Clump forming
Potentially harmful: Skin irritant/allergen. Wear gloves and other protective equipment when handling Pets: TOXIC if eaten - see the HTA guide to potentially harmful plants for further information and useful contact numbers
Genus: Allium are bulbous herbaceous perennials with a strong onion or garlic scent, linear, strap-shaped or cylindrical basal leaves and star-shaped or bell-shaped flowers in an umbel on a leafless stem
Name status: Correct

How to grow

Cultivation

Grows best in a sunny, sheltered spot with fertile, well-drained soil. If you have heavy soil try growing your garlic in a raised bed or container. To produce good quality bulbs garlic needs a period of cold, so it’s best planted in late autumn or early winter. Divide each bulb into individual cloves and space the cloves 15cm apart, with the tip 2.5cm below the soil surface. Space rows 30cm apart. Harvest from early summer once the leaves have turned yellow. See our grow your own advice page about garlic cultivation for further advice

Propagation

Propagate by dividing the bulb into cloves

Suggested planting locations and garden types

Cottage and informal garden
Patio and container plants
Wildlife gardens

Pruning

No pruning required

Pests

May be susceptible to allium leaf miner and onion fly

Diseases

May be susceptible to onion white rot, onion downy mildew and leek rust

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