What to Plant With Garlic: Garlic Companion Plants (and What to Avoid)

Garlic is a close relative of onions and chives, and companion lists usually treat it as part of the onion family. It also runs on an unusual schedule: in most of the country you plant cloves in fall and harvest bulbs the next summer. That timing matters more than any single neighbor, because garlic occupies its spot for about nine months. Here is what extension sources list, and how to plan a bed around it.

Good companion plants for garlic

Tomatoes

Virginia Extension lists onion-family crops, garlic included, as tomato companions. In practice the two overlap only briefly: fall-planted garlic is harvested in early to midsummer, about when tomatoes are filling out. A row of garlic along the edge of a bed that gets tomatoes in late spring works well. See what to plant with tomatoes.

Carrots, cabbage and broccoli

Virginia Extension lists the onion family as a companion for carrots and for the cabbage family (broccoli, cabbage, kale and their relatives). Garlic's slim, upright leaves take little space, so a garlic row can sit alongside spring-sown carrots or transplanted broccoli without crowding them. See what to plant with carrots and what to plant with broccoli.

What not to plant with garlic

Beans and peas are the classic keep-apart pair for the whole onion family, and Virginia Extension lists lettuce as incompatible with garlic too. Because garlic is planted in fall, the easy fix is to decide in October where next year's beans and peas will go, and put the garlic somewhere else. See what to plant with peas, what to plant with beans, and every pair to separate in the keep-apart chart.

When to plant garlic

UMN Extension recommends planting cloves in fall, usually one or two weeks after the first killing frost. Roots and shoots form in the clove before the ground freezes hard, but shoots usually do not appear above the soil until spring. In warmer regions, garlic is still planted in fall, just later; check your local extension service for timing where you live. Our when to plant garlic guide lists fall planting windows by region.

Planting and spacing

• Separate cloves a day or two before planting, and keep the papery skins on.
• Depth: plant pointed side up, with the base of the clove two to three inches below the soil surface.
• Spacing: UMN Extension suggests double rows with cloves six inches apart, rows centered on beds 30 inches apart. In a raised bed, a grid about six inches each way works the same way.
• Mulch: cover the bed with three to four inches of leaf or straw mulch to even out winter temperatures and hold down weeds. Pull it back in spring once hard freezes are over if you want the soil to warm faster.
• Soil: well-drained, moisture-retentive soil with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0, improved with compost. Garlic has a moderate to high nitrogen demand; follow a soil test.

Hardneck vs. softneck garlic

Hardneck types (such as Rocambole, Purple Stripe and Porcelain) send up a flowering stalk called a scape. UMN Extension notes you can cut scapes just after they start to curl and eat them. Softneck types (such as Artichoke and Silverskin) usually make more cloves and are the ones that braid easily. In cold climates, hardneck varieties adapted to your area are the usual choice.

A simple garlic-first bed

1. October: garlic on one side of the bed.

   Cloves about six inches apart, then mulched.

2. Early spring: carrots beside the garlic.

   A listed onion-family companion that fits the narrow space between rows.

3. Late spring: tomatoes in the rest of the bed.

   Staked on the far side, so they fill the space once garlic comes out.

4. Midsummer: harvest garlic, then sow a fall crop.

   Broccoli or another cabbage-family crop can follow in the gap.

Keep peas, beans and lettuce in another bed. Our raised bed layouts show how to map a 4×8 bed.

Weeds, water and harvest

UMN Extension warns that weeds can easily overtake young garlic, so control them early, hoe shallowly so you do not nick the bulbs, and keep the mulch in place. Water to soak the soil at least an inch a week during the growing season, and stop watering about two weeks before harvest to protect the bulb wrappers.

Harvest when the lower leaves have turned brown but about half of the upper leaves are still green, typically late June to late July depending on variety and climate. You can also dig one bulb and cut it in half: if the cloves fill their skins, it is ready. Cure whole plants in a warm, dry, airy place for three to four weeks, then trim. Rotate where you plant garlic, since UMN Extension suggests a four-year rotation to limit bulb mites and disease.

Garlic in containers

Garlic can grow in a deep container with drainage holes, cloves spaced about six inches apart. Containers dry out and freeze faster than garden soil, so mulch the top and keep an eye on moisture. Expect smaller bulbs than from a garden bed.

Frequently asked questions

What grows well with garlic?

Extension-listed companions for garlic in our checker are celery and tomatoes. The table on this page explains why each pairing works.

What should you not plant with garlic?

Our sources list asparagus, beans, lettuce and peas as poor neighbors for garlic.