How to Plant Garlic to Grow Scapes
- 1). Plant garlic in the fall--around mid-October--in a planting site that has good drainage. Work compost or well-rotted manure into the soil.
- 2). Separate the hardneck garlic cloves from the bulb and place them in the soil pointed side up about 2 to 4 inches deep. Space them about 6 to 8 inches apart. If you are planting more than one row, keep the rows about 1 to 2 feet apart.
- 3). Add at least 6 inches of straw or mulch to the planting bed before the extreme cold winter weather hits.
- 4). Look for the green tips of the scapes to poke through the mulch in the early spring as the ground begins to thaw. Gently pull the straw or mulch away from the emerging scapes in order to facilitate their growth as the temperatures begin to warm up. Remove the scapes as needed for cooking. The leaves will begin to die off as the weather becomes hotter and drier. When there are few scapes left in the hotter months of the summer, that means the garlic bulbs are ready to be harvested.
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