The Garlic is Taking Off-- It Must Almost Be Spring!

[Branching Out]

Lately I have been thinking a lot about plants that can be inter-cropped with garlic. Last year I planted spinach in between the garlic; that started out okay, but I sowed too much and a lot of it got away from me in the end. So today I tried poking in some seeds of hardy annual flowers that do well with direct sowing in late winter. If they germinate and remain well-behaved I think it could make for a very pretty garlic patch. And after last year's spinach forest I was very careful to only plant a few seeds each of ammi, corn cockles, and orlaya.

 

[digitS']

That is an interesting combination of flowers - all somewhat similar!

A few "face flowers" and you would have a bouquet in your garlic bed, Branching Out .

Onions are so intolerant to weeds I would imagine that it is also true with garlic and that it must have been easy to overcrowd them with spinach.

 

[Branching Out]

Steve,

Indeed. Those flowers are indeed all similar with a tall enough form so they will float above and among the garlic leaves (hopefully). I saw in an old thread that you used to grow flowers for market. Is that something that you still do? And what would you consider to be a good 'face' flower? My thought was to tuck a few calendula in at the very front; that section will be hot and dry come June. This garlic patch is about 5' deep and 6' wide, and is on a slight incline facing west with the ammi at the top of the slope, then the corn cockles, and finally the orlaya.

Last year the garlic was so overcrowded with 2' tall spinach, by the end of May you could hardly see the garlic. Lol. Part of the issue last spring was the non-stop rain for months, which made it impossible to garden because it was so mucky; I just couldn't get in there without destroying the soil. I will definitely try spinach inter-cropped with the garlic again, but I will only plant it towards the very front of the patch so it can be reached easily for harvesting without having to walk on the soil in the garden bed-- and I won't sow 100 seeds all on the same day. 10 seeds a week for 10 weeks would make a lot more sense. Live and learn.

 

[meadow]

Steve,

Indeed. Those flowers are indeed all similar with a tall enough form so they will float above and among the garlic leaves (hopefully). I saw in an old thread that you used to grow flowers for market. Is that something that you still do? And what would you consider to be a good 'face' flower? My thought was to tuck a few calendula in at the very front; that section will be hot and dry come June. This garlic patch is about 5' deep and 6' wide, and is on a slight incline facing west with the ammi at the top of the slope, then the corn cockles, and finally the orlaya.

Last year the garlic was so overcrowded with 2' tall spinach, by the end of May you could hardly see the garlic. Lol. Part of the issue last spring was the non-stop rain for months, which made it impossible to garden because it was so mucky; I just couldn't get in there without destroying the soil. I will definitely try spinach inter-cropped with the garlic again, but I will only plant it towards the very front of the patch so it can be reached easily for harvesting without having to walk on the soil in the garden bed-- and I won't sow 100 seeds all on the same day. 10 seeds a week for 10 weeks would make a lot more sense. Live and learn.

Last year I had two calendula plants about a foot away from the edge of the garlic bed. The garlic closest to the calendula did not do as well as the others.

 

[flowerbug]

Lately I have been thinking a lot about plants that can be inter-cropped with garlic.

my experience is that if you want larger bulbs you do not want any competition with them (same for onions).

i have grown it in combination with alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil and that did give results but the bulbs were smaller (by about half).

Last year I planted spinach in between the garlic; that started out okay, but I sowed too much and a lot of it got away from me in the end. So today I tried poking in some seeds of hardy annual flowers that do well with direct sowing in late winter. If they germinate and remain well-behaved I think it could make for a very pretty garlic patch. And after last year's spinach forest I was very careful to only plant a few seeds each of ammi, corn cockles, and orlaya.

i like flowers too but i don't plant them with the garlic any longer. i also liked mixed gardens with multiple things going on, but it makes it harder to harvest garlic when it is ready if there are things in the way.

the other consideration is that you want it to dry out a bit before harvest and if you have garden flowers in there and it gets dry you may be tempted to water when the garlic would finish better if it weren't watered.

 

[digitS']

flowers for market. Is that something that you still do?

No more marketing, Branching Out. It ended with 2020 and I try not to look back too sentimentally .

I understand your desire to gain some ornamental value with any garden bed around the home.

Maybe you could try a diminutive size of @flowerbug 's cosmos. You might be able to learn all of us on the potential to have the most attractive vegetable patch in the neighborhood.

Steve

 

[Zeedman]

Lately I have been thinking a lot about plants that can be inter-cropped with garlic. Last year I planted spinach in between the garlic; that started out okay, but I sowed too much and a lot of it got away from me in the end. So today I tried poking in some seeds of hardy annual flowers that do well with direct sowing in late winter. If they germinate and remain well-behaved I think it could make for a very pretty garlic patch. And after last year's spinach forest I was very careful to only plant a few seeds each of ammi, corn cockles, and orlaya.

There probably are quite a few flowers (and some veggies) which are at least somewhat compatible with garlic. However, since garlic is sensitive to weed pressure, I agree with @flowerbug - any plant growing around & between garlic plants is likely to result in some reduction of size. Furthermore, anything planted there would need to mature or be harvested before the garlic is ready, since digging the garlic would necessarily dig up anything else in the immediate area as well. For all those reasons, I would recommend that anything grown with garlic be spaced at least 6" away if possible. What might work is a vining plant with a low profile, planted outside the garlic bed & creeping into it... perhaps creeping phlox, petunias, or nasturtiums. The vines of those could be pulled back to dig the garlic.

A fellow gardener & garlic enthusiast that I know grows quite a few different garlic varieties. He uses a row or two of tulips as dividers, between varieties. The tulips are both planted & dug up the same time as the garlic... and he then sells the extra tulip bulbs. Presumably other Fall-planted bulbs could be used in lieu of tulips. That practice does take a little space away from the garlic, but would look really pretty in Spring.

 

[flowerbug]

...A fellow gardener & garlic enthusiast that I know grows quite a few different garlic varieties. He uses a row or two of tulips as dividers, between varieties. The tulips are both planted & dug up the same time as the garlic... and he then sells the extra tulip bulbs. Presumably other Fall-planted bulbs could be used in lieu of tulips. That practice does take a little space away from the garlic, but would look really pretty in Spring.

i like the idea but the problem for me is that i grow the garlic outside the fenced areas and tulips i have out there barely survive the constant deer and rabbit raids. the low growing thyme i have does ok with some interplanting but anything wide leaved like tulips take away a bit more light than either the thyme or the garlic would like. i'd have to space them out a fair amount more than 6 inches. still a good idea for the future if i ever get these gardens fenced properly.

 

[meadow]

The tulips would be so pretty!

I did enjoy the calendula that grew by the garlic, and it only affected the end plants on 2 rows. The two calendula plants were volunteers from the year before that I'd transplanted at the base of a mole repelling windmill (which is quite attractive). The flower colors wound up complimenting each other perfectly, with the branches kind of overlapping and intermingling. The whole thing brought so much pleasure to look at that it was worth a couple of sacrificial heads of garlic!

 

[Branching Out]

You all have so many good suggestions-- thank you!

For me, as much as I love them the shine has gone off tulips after last spring's rain and what I suspect may have been Tulip Fire disfiguring our many tulip patches. This year I might have to dig out all of the tulips that remain, and dispose of them. And if it is going to compete, Calendula may well need to find a home away from the garlic-- thanks for the heads up on that one. Petunias are lovely, however in our climate they may not put on much growth until July-- but I love the idea of vining nasturtiums sowed outside of the garlic patch, to cover the ground without taking away nutrients from the garlic. Around here nasturtiums peak in June and then they're kind of done, so the timing could fit really nicely-- and they don't need to be watered or fertilized either. Brilliant! Last year I saved a bunch of seed from nasturtium 'Moonlight', so I may just give those a try. (By the way Moonlight was the only vining nasturtium that I grew, but it was not a favourite of mine. It would still look okay with the garlic, and could serve a purpose here. I preferred a couple of mounding varieties, Cherry Rose Jewel and Dwarf Alaska Gold.)