When to plant garlic in Louisville
Garlic is cold-hardy, so every date keys off Louisville's frost dates of Apr 1.
Step 1 · Sow
Direct sow outdoors
Oct 1 – Oct 22
Sow straight into warm, workable soil.
Step 2 · Harvest
Harvest window
May 29 – May 29
Picking runs until conditions turn against the crop.
Window
Days to maturity
240 d
Louisville's 212-day season leaves this much room.
Garlic on Louisville's growing year
Frost-bounded season with crops mapped onto the 12-month axis.
Frost risk Growing Harvest
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
FROST
FROST
APR 1
OCT 29
Common questions
When can I sow garlic outdoors in Louisville?
Direct-sow around early October (Oct 1–Oct 22) in Louisville, based on its local frost dates. Confidence 82%.
When will garlic be ready to harvest in Louisville?
Expect to harvest from around late May (May 29–May 29) in Louisville, based on its local frost dates. Confidence 74%.
How long is the growing season in Louisville?
Louisville has roughly 212 frost-free days, which is marginal time to grow garlic to maturity outdoors.
The rule of thumb
Sow garlic as soon as the soil is workable — it tolerates cool weather and light frost. Every date on this page is derived from that rule and Louisville's frost dates.
Confidence 82/100 · Curated · based on NOAA GHCN-Daily 1991–2020 normal · frost dates are probabilities, not guarantees.