When to Plant Garlic

Enter your ZIP code to see the garlic planting windows from the frost dates at the nearest weather station. The rules below come from university extension publications and count from the average last or first frost.

Your area

Risk level

How much frost risk you'll accept. Each level uses the frost dates with this chance of a frost after the last-frost date or before the first-frost date: Conservative 10%, Typical 30%, Aggressive 50%.

Planting year

The year the frost dates and windows are placed on.

Garlic planting windows

Garlic planting rules

Each rule counts days or weeks from the average last spring frost or first fall frost in its source. YepPlant applies the same count to the 32°F frost dates at each risk level: Conservative (10%), Typical (30%), and Aggressive (50%). A range in a rule becomes a range in the window. Where sources differ or don't give a single value, the value is YepPlant's reading of the sources, and it stays within what they say.

Garlic planting rules, from university extension publications
Rule	Value	Sources
Frost threshold	32°F frost dates	—
Transplant outdoors	Not available	—
Start seeds indoors	Not available	—
Sow outdoors	Not available	—
Days to maturity	Not available	—
Fall planting	From the first fall frost date to 14 days after the first fall frost	UW, CORYepPlant's reading of these sources
Crop rotation	Plant this crop's family in the same spot at most once every 2 to 3 years	RUT, COR, NCSU, PSU

Not available means no rule from the sources is used for it, so no window depends on it. Rows without a source follow the rules shared by all crops, described on the methods and sources page.

Garlic is planted after the first fall frost. The risk levels use the same first-frost dates as for other crops, so Conservative gives the earliest window. For a crop planted after frost, the earlier window isn't the more cautious one; the levels only show how early the first frost tends to come.

Sources

University extension publications, with the date each was retrieved. The frost dates come from NOAA's 1991–2020 Climate Normals at the weather station nearest your ZIP code, and the station is found from the Census Bureau's ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.

RUT: Rutgers NJAES, Fact Sheet FS1233: Growing Garlic in the Home Garden: Used for: Crop rotation. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
UW: University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension: Garlic (Allium sativum): Used for: Fall planting. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
COR: Cornell University, Horticulture Section: Plan on Garlic This Fall: Used for: Fall planting, Crop rotation. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
PSU: Penn State Extension: Growing Garlic - Fall Planting: Used for: Crop rotation. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
UMD-P: University of Maryland Extension: Vegetables for Spring and Fall Planting: Consulted, but no rule on this page comes from it. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
NCSU: NC State Extension, Extension Gardener Handbook Chapter 16: Vegetable Gardening: Used for: Crop rotation. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
OSU: Oregon State University Extension: Plant cold-hardy vegetables now for a spring harvest: Consulted, but no rule on this page comes from it. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
PUR: Purdue Extension, HO-66-W: The Fall Vegetable Garden: Consulted, but no rule on this page comes from it. Retrieved October 10, 2026.

Data sources

NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, frost dates, 1991–2020 normals, version 1.0.1: Files: us-climate-normals_1991-2020_v1.0.1_annualseasonal_multivariate_by-station_c20230404.tar.gz, inventory_30yr.txt from NOAA NCEI. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
U.S. Census Bureau ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, 2026 Gazetteer Files and 2020 ZCTA to County Relationship File: Files: 2026_Gaz_zcta_national.zip, tab20_zcta520_county20_natl.txt, national_state2020.txt from the U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved October 10, 2026.