Sow garlic: September-March..

Harvest garlic: May-September.

Home-grown garlic takes up little space and requires hardly any effort to get a good crop. It’s an easy crop to grow, spouting from a garlic bulb separated into cloves, which you plant individually.

There are two types of garlic to grow: softneck garlic and hardneck garlic.

Softneck varieties

The most common garlic type in supermarkets. Softnecks provide the greatest number of cloves per bulb – up to 18. They have a white, papery skin, store well and rarely bolt (produce a flower stalk). However, softneck garlic is less tolerant of prolonged cold temperatures and is therefore best suited to growing in milder southern counties in the UK, although it can be grown elsewhere with winter protection.

Hardneck varieties

Hardneck garlic has fewer cloves per bulb – usually 10 or less. They are generally hardier than softneck types and can be grown throughout the UK. Hardneck types will often produce a curling flower stalk or ‘scape’. This straightens out as it matures, to carry a head of tiny clove-like bulbils. It is best to remove the scape as soon as it appears (use it in stir fries) so the plant diverts its energies into producing a larger bulb. If left to develop on the plants, you can harvest and plant the bulbils, but it may take up to three years to form a decent bulb.

Growing garlic

Grow garlic in a warm, sunny spot, in fertile, well-drained soil that doesn’t get too wet in winter. Always buy bulbs at the garden centre or order from a seed supplier – don’t use bulbs from the supermarket. Break up the bulbs into separate cloves and plant the large ones with the fat end downwards and the pointy end 2.5cm below the soil surface. Harvest from July onwards, once the top growth has begun to die back. Leave the bulbs to dry in the sun for a few days before storing.

When to plant garlic

Garlic is usually planted in late autumn or early winter, but if you have a heavy soil you may have more success from planting in early spring. Plant garlic bulbs directly in the ground or start them off in small pots if you have heavy soil. Garlic can also be planted in a large container.

How to plant garlic

Most varieties of garlic are best planted in late autumn or early winter, as the cloves need a period of cold weather to develop into bulbs.

Make sure your soil is clear of weeds and the remains of summer crops. Before planting garlic, dig in some home-made compost or well-rotted manure and rake over well. Push cloves in, or use a dibber to make holes 15cm apart, leaving 30cm between rows. Birds have a penchant for the bulbs and will pull them out of the soil, so lay bird netting or horticultural fleece over new plants until the shoots are 5cm tall. In cold areas you may need to cover plants with cloches over winter. This extra protection will encourage root growth, so plants are ready to grow next spring.