Do you want to grow garlic? Beyond a doubt, garlic is one of the healthiest and helpful of medicinal and culinary herbs. Thankfully, it is also one of the very easiest to grow.

Nearly everyone has seen the garlic sold in the store as a cluster of tiny bulbs. This is the root of the plant. The individual little bulbs are called cloves, while the entire mass is called the bulb. This may sound fundamental, but a large number of people honestly don't know the difference between a clove of garlic and a bulb of garlic. This distinction is important when planting garlic.

Garlic will grow in almost any soil, but for best results, the soil should be porous and rich in nutrients. Compost is nearly perfect since it provides the nutrients needed and allows water to drain easily.

Work the compost into the dirt, mixing it well, to a depth of at least six inches (about two and a half centimeters). Rocks and larger clumps of hard soil should be removed so the mixture is uniform.

Individual cloves are then planted at a depth of about an inch in this medium, preferably where the plants will get partial to full sunshine. The soil should be moist during planting, and the clove should be watered enough to keep the soil moist until the green onion-like leaves appear. Thereafter it can be watered a little less, but it should still receive plenty of moisture without allowing the bulbs and roots to stand in water, which will cause rot.

Grown near other plants, garlic both acts as an insect repellent and as a strengthener for the other plants. This means that they can be widely spread throughout the flowerbeds and garden. Caution though: It can also strengthen weeds it grows near, so weeding is a good idea.

The outer leaves of the garlic plant can be used as a milder form of garlic, both in culinary uses and medicinally. The leaves of chives and garlic can appear so similar that it is hard to tell them apart, but garlic has a white bloom while chives have a purple flower.

There are many different type of garlic, but for the average home garden, multiplying garlic is a favorite. This is because after the bloom, these varieties produce tiny bulbs right on the flowering stalk, which can be planted, resulting in a new group of garlic plants without separating the cloves.

Elephant garlic, which produces a very large bulb, is another favorite. Elephant garlic grows to three or four feet (a little over a meter) in height, and can be grown from the cloves like any other kind of garlic.

Wild garlic can also be grown in the garden, with a little more effort. However, these can have single bulbs like an onion, rather than a cluster of cloves.

Garlic can be planted any time of the year. It isn't uncommon for a crop of garlic planted in July to produce garlic leaves since August. Larger varieties are best planted in late autumn for a late spring crop. If planted in wintertime, if the soil is loose enough to work, the cloves will lay dormant until growing season has begun.

Garlic is also one of the herbs ideally suited for container planting in the home, because of the shallow and small root structure. It does require plenty of light, however even a 4 inch deep window box can offer plenty of soil for the plant to grow, and furnish fresh garlic throughout the winter. Cold temperatures tend to product a more prolific and milder garlic, while hot temperatures tend to make the garlic stouter in flavor.

Not only is this plant easy to grow, but it is great for the kitchen and medicine cabinet as well. It requires a minimum of effort and work, so why not plant some? You never know when some fresh garlic will come in handy.

Learn more about this author, Rex Trulove.
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