That is what they are supposed ro do. You'll need to mulch them for the winter, then they will come back up in the spring.

Great! Should the mulch cover the sprouts completely? And what kind of mulch do you suggest?

Old hay or grass clippings would work. I am not sure about leaves as they may matt and not let the shoots through in the spring.

I've heard that shredded leaves make good mulch.

4 inches of shredded straw would make a fine mulch for garlic in zone 8. I think shredded leaves would clump and mat when wet, so maybe mix them half-and-half with shredded straw or dried (not green) grass clippings if you want to use them. You want something that will stay fluffy, provide good insulation, not smother the plants in the spring, and decompose readily when the weather warms.

I do not mulch garlic in zone 5 (border of zone 4) and it all survives. Has for years.

I thought the mulch was mainly to keep the weeds down.

justaguy2, where are you? I'm zone 5 in Salt Lake City and just planted my garlic recently. I am planning on mulching with straw as we will get lots of cold and snow before spring.

yfchoice,

I am in SE Wisconsin and it gets to around -20F as the lowest temp. My garlic (elephant, music and siberian) are in raised beds that remain uncovered and unmulched all winter.

It always survives the winter.

This isn't an anti-mulch argument though, just my own experience and certainly if one is growing less hardy varieties it may be more of a benefit. The primary reason I do not mulch is the wind storms. They tend to blow things like leaves/straw/hay right off the beds and into the neighbor's yard.

What I have found can kill garlic is a really wet spring with flooded soil. That's why I do the raised bed thing.

justaguy2,

So are yours planted now and have they sprouted yet? The Wisconsin winters don't hurt the sprouts? Again, I'm new to growing garlic, so I haven't a clue.

toad,

I just planted my garlic a few days ago. Nothing has sprouted yet. Typically I do get sprouts before the hard freezes arrive for the season and those sprouts typically are killed by the cold.

This is perfectly normal and OK. The greenery, while it lasts, sucks up the sun and provides energy for the plant. When the greenery dies the bulb survives and has more stored energy than it would have had it not sprouted.

In the spring the greenery again emerges and the plant has more energy than it would have had if it has not sprouted before the winter freezes set in.

In short the green sprouts cannot tolerate freezing weather, but the bulbs can.

I plan on laying straw as mulch on top of my garlic and strawberries, then covering them with burlap to hold the mulch down. I'll staple them to the wooden sides of the raised beds.

That should insulate them well, don't you think?