Last Updated on September 13, 2026
How Many Garlic per Square Foot?
4 garlic cloves per square foot, 6 inches apart, planted in fall about 12 weeks before the ground freezes hard. A 4 x 4 bed holds 64 cloves and gives you 64 heads the next summer.
The spacing pattern
| Square foot method | 4 per square: a 2 x 2 grid, 6 inches apart, pointed end up, 2 to 3 inches deep |
|---|---|
| 4 x 4 bed (16 squares) | 64 garlic cloves |
| 4 x 8 bed (32 squares) | 128 garlic cloves |
Each clove becomes a full head, and a head needs about 6 inches to size up. Garlic is in the ground for nine months, so it gets its own bed or a block of squares you will not disturb until July.
Planting the square
- Break the bulbs into cloves the day you plant; keep the biggest cloves for planting and eat the small ones.
- Push each clove in pointed end up, 2 to 3 inches deep, at the 4 points of a 2 x 2 grid.
- Mulch with leaves or straw, cut the scapes in June, and harvest when the bottom leaves brown.
Tim’s growing notes
The whole season, fall planting through curing, is in How to Grow Garlic, with garlic scapes and harvesting and curing as the follow-ups.
Soil temperature for germination
From my Seed Germination Temperature Chart: garlic germinate from 32°F, do best at 65-85°F, and stop above 95°F.
How I grow them, in brief
Garlic is planted in fall and harvested the next summer. Hardneck types are the ones for a cold climate; they need a winter freeze to make big bulbs and they give you scapes in June. Buy seed garlic, not grocery garlic, which is often treated so it will not sprout. I break the bulbs the day I plant, push each clove in fat end down 2 to 3 inches deep, four to a square, water well and mulch heavily with leaves so the bed stays weed-free until spring, when garlic is impossible to weed around. Scapes get cut in June so the energy goes to the bulb; when the bottom leaves brown in July I stop watering and pull them, then cure them in the shade with good air for a few weeks before storing. The guide is How to Grow Garlic; the follow-ups are Garlic Scapes and Harvesting and Curing Garlic.
When to plant garlic
Fall, about 12 weeks before the ground freezes hard, which is October here in New Hampshire; the cloves root before winter and shoot in spring. Harvest is the following July, roughly 240 days later. The planner carries garlic across the year as an overwinter crop so its squares stay reserved.
Where I get seed
Wood Prairie sells certified organic seed garlic for fall planting: Music, German Extra Hardy, Georgian Fire and Inchelium Red. It sells out early, so order in late summer. Code PMG5 takes 5 percent off.
Quick questions
When do I plant garlic?
In fall, about 12 weeks before the ground freezes; here in New Hampshire that is October.
Can I plant grocery store garlic?
You can, but most of it is softneck from a warm climate. Seed garlic from a northern grower gives you hardneck varieties that store well and make scapes.
Let the planner place them
Plan My Garden is free to start: draw your beds, pick garlic and everything else you want to grow, and it places each plant at the right spacing and gives you a planting schedule for your zip code.
Related: Square Foot Gardening Chart · How to Grow Garlic · Harvesting and Curing Garlic
