Success with GARLIC

Autumn is the ideal time to plant garlic, but which varieties produce the biggest crop and best flavour? We put 10 to the test, growing in the ground and in containers

- WORDS RICH HEATHCOTE PHOTOS NEIL HEPWORTH

Garlic is marvellous. Even after growing it for a decade, I still delight at the way a single clove develops into a delicious bulb with minimal fuss. The only care they need is to be watered and kept free from weeds, and they rarely suffer from pests or disease. Best of all, homegrown garlic is larger and has a superior flavour to shop-bought bulbs.

Whether you've never grown garlic before or it's a staple of your veg patch, there are so many varieties to choose from now that it can be hard to narrow down your choices. So to make it easier, I've trialled 10 different varieties - five softneck and five hardneck - both in the ground and in pots, as well as planting some in autumn and spring.

I then compared yield, flavour and storage ability, to help you choose the right garlic for you. So check out my results overleaf and get planting!

The results

‘Cledor’

Softneck

Planting time Autumn (bulbs didn’t store for spring planting)

Where to plant In the ground

Bulb size Small to medium

Flavour Mild

Storage Poor

Sadly, this variety didn’t have much to recommend itself! The bulbs went mouldy in storage over winter and didn’t grow at all in pots. But the bulbs were pretty uniform and if you like a very mild flavour, then this is a good option, as long as you plant in autumn.

‘Kingsland Wight’

Hardneck

Planting time Autumn or spring

Where to plant In the ground or in pots

Bulb size Small

Flavour Mild

Storage Excellent

A good consistent variety if you like a mellow taste and don’t need or want huge yields. It was one of the best for storage and grew well from spring planting, though the bulbs were more prone to splitting into multiple smaller bulbs than autumn-planted ones. Yields were halved when grown in pots.

‘Maddock Wight’

Softneck

Planting time Autumn or spring