Garlic ‘Blushing Beauty’ (Autumn Planting)

Why Plant Garlic in Autumn?

Autumn is an ideal time to plant hardneck garlic. Getting the cloves into the ground now gives them time to establish roots before winter, while the colder months provide the low temperatures needed for good bulb development. It's particularly useful for gardeners in cooler parts of the UK, where hardneck garlic is well suited to the colder growing conditions.

What You'll Need

A garden fork or trowel • Well-rotted garden compost • Concentrated Slow-Release Onion, Garlic & Shallot Feed Granules • Horticultural fleece if birds are a problem • Horticultural grit if you have heavy soil

Prepare Your Soil

Choose an open, sunny position with fertile, free-draining soil. Garlic dislikes sitting in wet ground, particularly through winter. If your soil is heavy, work in plenty of organic matter and horticultural grit to improve the structure and drainage, or grow your garlic in a raised bed or container. Avoid planting in freshly manured ground.

Planting Your Garlic

Keep the bulbs whole until you're ready to plant, then carefully separate them into individual cloves, leaving the papery skins intact. Plant each clove with the flat base down and pointed end upwards. The tip should sit approximately 2–2.5cm below the soil surface, with around 15cm between plants and 30cm between rows.

Protecting Young Shoots

Birds can sometimes pull up newly planted cloves or emerging shoots before they've rooted securely. If this becomes a problem, cover the crop with horticultural fleece or suitable netting until the plants are well established.

Watering & Feeding

Water during prolonged dry spells, particularly while the bulbs are developing and swelling. Once the foliage begins to yellow as the crop approaches maturity, stop watering and allow the bulbs to mature ready for lifting.

Keep It Weed Free

Garlic has relatively shallow roots and doesn't compete well with weeds. Weed regularly by hand or hoe carefully between the plants, taking care not to damage the developing bulbs.

Growing in Containers

Garlic can also be grown in a large container with good drainage. Choose a pot at least 30cm deep, allow around 15cm between plants and check the compost regularly during dry weather, as containers will need watering more often than open ground.

Good Companions

Garlic takes up relatively little room above ground, so it fits easily into a productive vegetable plot alongside crops such as carrots, beetroot and leafy salads. Make sure neighbouring crops don't crowd the plants as the bulbs develop.

Making the Most of Your Bed

Quick-growing radishes and salad leaves can be grown nearby and harvested while your garlic is still developing. Leave enough space around the garlic for plenty of light and good airflow.

Crop Rotation

Garlic belongs to the onion family, so avoid planting it where onions, shallots, garlic or leeks have recently been grown. These crops can be affected by some of the same soil-borne pests and diseases.

Planning Ahead

Where practical, leave three to four years before growing onion-family crops in the same ground again. Once your garlic has been harvested in summer, the space can be used for later-sown salads and other quick-growing vegetables.

When to Harvest

Autumn-planted garlic is generally ready to lift in early summer. Watch the plants rather than relying on the calendar alone – once the leaves begin to yellow and die back, it's time to start checking the bulbs.

Don't Leave It Too Long

Keep an eye on your crop as it approaches maturity. Leaving ripe garlic in the ground for too long can cause the bulbs to start opening and the cloves to separate, reducing their storage life.

How to Harvest

Choose a dry day and carefully loosen the soil beneath each bulb with a garden fork before lifting it. Avoid pulling hard on the foliage or bruising the bulbs.

Drying Your Garlic

Allow freshly lifted bulbs to dry thoroughly somewhere warm, dry and well ventilated. Once cured, brush away loose soil and trim the dried roots and foliage before storing.

Storing Your Harvest

Keep thoroughly dried bulbs somewhere cool, dry and well ventilated. Check them occasionally during storage and use any that begin to soften or deteriorate first.

For a Proper Garlic Hit

‘Blushing Beauty’ has a strong, pungent flavour, so it's a great choice for dishes where you want the garlic to make its presence felt. Crush the cloves into curries, sauces and marinades, or finely chop them into stir-fries and pasta dishes.

Roast the Large Cloves

Make the most of those large cloves by roasting them whole. Cooking mellows their pungency and brings out a softer, richer flavour that's delicious squeezed into mashed potatoes, stirred through sauces or spread onto warm bread.

Don't Miss the Scapes

As a hardneck garlic, ‘Blushing Beauty’ produces curling scapes before the bulbs are ready. Pick them while they're young and tender and use them in stir-fries, omelettes or pesto for a fresh, green garlic flavour.

Top Tip

For the biggest garlic hit, add crushed ‘Blushing Beauty’ towards the end of cooking. For a mellower flavour, add it earlier and give it longer to cook.

Understanding Your Garlic Bulbs

Garlic is supplied as a whole bulb made up of individual cloves. Before planting, carefully split the bulb apart and plant each clove separately. Each healthy clove has the potential to grow into a complete new bulb, so one garlic bulb can give you several plants and a much bigger harvest.

Bulb Size & Clove Numbers

Garlic is a natural product, so bulb size and the number and size of cloves will vary. A bulb with fewer cloves isn't necessarily smaller or poorer quality – it may simply contain fewer, larger cloves. The approximate clove count shown on the product page is a useful guide rather than an exact number for every bulb.

Hardneck Garlic

Hardneck varieties tend to produce fewer, larger cloves around a firm central stem. They're particularly well suited to colder conditions, making them a useful choice for gardeners in northern and cooler parts of the UK. They also produce a flowering stem called a scape, which can be harvested while young.

Softneck Garlic

Softneck varieties generally produce more cloves of varying sizes and don't have the rigid central stem found in hardnecks. Their softer, flexible foliage means the cured bulbs can be plaited, and they generally have a longer storage life than hardneck types.

When Your Garlic Arrives

Keep the bulbs whole until you're ready to plant, then carefully separate them into individual cloves, leaving their papery skins intact. If you can't plant straight away, keep the bulbs somewhere cool, dry and well ventilated until you're ready to get them into the ground.