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How to plant garlic in the UK

Updated: October 2026

You have a firm clove and an empty bed, and the packet, the Royal Horticultural Society, and a family guide do not give the same depth. How to plant garlic in the UK means an autumn window, free-draining soil in full sun, and the depth on your own packet when it prints one. This page is for Allium sativum in open ground. The [plant garlic comparison](/hub/root-vegetables/plant-garlic) is where the packets were compared. Pots are on [growing garlic in pots](/hub/root-vegetables/plant-garlic/sub/plant-garlic-in-pots). The Products Compared editorial team used the RHS grow guide, Gardeners’ World, and care lines on these amazon.co.uk listings. We did not time a row, and a qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a firm clove and an empty bed, and the packet, the Royal Horticultural Society, and a family guide do not give the same depth.

Our top picks

Live Seeds Live Seeds Solent Wight 20 cloves

Best overall

Live Seeds Live Seeds Solent Wight 20 cloves
10.0/10about £5.99
View offer
Live Seeds Live Seeds Provence Wight 30 cloves

Preis-Tipp

Live Seeds Live Seeds Provence Wight 30 cloves
8.6/10about £8.49
View offer
Carbeth Plants Carbeth Cristo 4 bulbs

Alternative

Carbeth Plants Carbeth Cristo 4 bulbs
7.2/10about £9.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.When and where
  2. 2.Depth and spacing
  3. 3.The day you plant
  4. 4.Lift, rust, and white rot

When and where

Most varieties need about one to two months at 0–10°C, so the main UK window is mid-autumn to early winter. If a listing gives a month, read it beside the cold requirement. The 40-clove Solent bullets say autumn or winter, while the planting-period attribute on that page says Summer. Follow the cold, not that attribute. The title still says 2021–22, so it is not this year’s calendar. The site is full sun and soil that drains. Do not plant into fresh manure or waterlogged clay. The Germidour seller says the soil must not waterlog, and suggests well-rotted compost and a raised bed on heavy ground. If the plot already has onion white rot, do not plant alliums there. A pot of fresh compost is the route, and on a shared allotment the site committee should hear about white rot before soil moves between plots. If you have not ordered, start with the buying guide.

Depth and spacing

There is no single depth every trusted source prints, and this page will not average them. The RHS plant page says the tip sits about 2.5 cm below the surface, with cloves about 15 cm apart and rows about 30 cm apart. The main grow guide uses that 15 cm by 30 cm bed. An RHS family activity uses about 10 cm between cloves and about 3 cm of depth, and says not to peel the skins. Gardeners’ World says about 3 cm of soil over the clove, again at 15 cm by 30 cm. Two sellers print their own numbers. Carbeth’s three-bulb mix says 2–3 cm deep and 10–15 cm apart. Russian Giant says 5–10 cm, pointed end up, in September to November. Cristo’s seller says 15 cm by 30 cm and does not give a depth. Use your packet’s depth when it states one. If it does not, use about 2.5 cm of cover and 15 cm by 30 cm.
Live Seeds Live Seeds Solent Wight 20 cloves

Testsieger

Live Seeds Live Seeds Solent Wight 20 cloves
10.0/10about £5.99
View offer

The day you plant

Split the bulb on the day and leave the skin on. Push each clove in pointed end up and flat plate down. A clove planted upside down wastes the autumn. Firm the surface so birds cannot tug it out before it roots. The RHS grow guide suggests netting until the plants have rooted. Water if the soil is dry, then leave the row through winter unless a dry spring asks for water. The 20-clove Solent care line mentions dry spring spells, weeding by hand, and removing a flower scape. If a scape appears, that line says to remove it. You are not ready if the clove came from a supermarket bulb. The RHS and Which? both warn against that.

Lift, rust, and white rot

Lift when the leaves yellow. Gardeners’ World places a typical harvest from July. Garlic Farm notes put Provence Wight around mid-June and Solent Wight around July to August. Dry the bulbs somewhere airy. The RHS says hardneck garlic stores for roughly four to six months. The Cristo plant page allows up to three months, which the Carbeth bullets do not print. Orange pustules are leek rust, Puccinia porri. The bulbs are usually still edible. White rot is the stop sign. Onion white rot, Stromatinia cepivora, shows as white fluffy growth and black resting bodies at the base. It persists for years, and there is no chemical cure for amateur UK gardeners. Do not compost those plants, and do not move that soil into a pot or a clean bed. On a shared allotment, tell the site.

Common questions

When should you plant garlic in the UK?
Plant most varieties from mid-autumn into early winter so they get about one to two months at 0–10°C. Ignore a Summer attribute when the same page’s bullets say autumn or winter, as on the 40-clove Solent pack.
How deep should you plant a clove, and which way up?
Pointed end up, flat plate down, skin left on. Use the number on your packet when it prints one. Do not average 2.5 cm and 10 cm into a single rule for every clove.
How far apart should the cloves be?
The RHS grow guide and Gardeners’ World use about 15 cm between cloves and 30 cm between rows. For an open bed with no spacing on the packet, use 15 cm by 30 cm. A closer spacing is a different method, not a correction of the main guide.
Can you plant a supermarket bulb?
The RHS and Which? say not to. Supermarket garlic can carry virus, and it is a poor way to bring onion white rot onto an allotment. Buy a clove sold for planting.
What if the soil is heavy clay?
Do not plant into waterlogged clay. The Germidour seller suggests a raised bed and well-rotted compost. If the problem is white rot rather than texture, use a container of fresh compost and do not fill it with the sick soil.
When do you lift the crop, and what are orange spots?
Lift when the leaves yellow, often from July. Orange pustules are leek rust, and the bulbs are usually still edible. White fluffy growth at the base is white rot. Stop using that bed for alliums, and do not compost the plants.

Related pages

Best seed garlic

Plant garlic

Garlic bulbs for planting: what the listing must show

Growing garlic in pots: UK depth, compost and cold

Wild garlic seeds: ramsons seed, not a garlic clove

Sources

Public UK sources, read with the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Shelf prices and star lines are those listing figures. The Garlic Farm price is a specialist benchmark, not an amazon.co.uk row.

  1. RHS: How to grow garlic (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  2. RHS: Onion white rot (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  3. RHS: Leek rust (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  4. RHS: Allium ursinum (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  5. The Garlic Farm: Solent Wight seed (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  6. The Garlic Farm: Provence Wight seed (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  7. Which?: How to grow garlic (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  8. Gardeners' World: How to grow garlic (retrieved 16 October 2026)