Discover Field Garlic

• Field garlic (Allium oleraceum) is a bulbous perennial that grows wild in dry places in northern Europe, reaching 80cm in height.
• It reproduces by seed, bulbs and by the production of small bulblets in the flower head (similarly to the Wild Onion Allium vineale). 
• Unlike A. vineale however, it is very rare with Field garlic to find flower-heads containing bulbils only. 
• In addition, the spathe in Field garlic is in two parts.

Know your Field Garlic - Distribution

• Field garlic is native to temperate Eurasia. 
• It is native to Britain and is found in dry, grassy places, usually steeply sloping and calcareous soils, and on open sunny banks in river floodplains. 
• It favours altitudes of 0-365m. 
• A. oleraceum is scattered throughout England and very scattered in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. 
• Erosion of coastal areas leads to a reduction in the available habitat for this species, leading to population declines.

Know your Field Garlic - Position and Soil

• This plant prefers partial or full exposure to sunlight. 
• Field Garlic tends to grow in slightly moist, heavy clay-like soil, although it will grow just fine in other soils. 
• This plant spreads quickly, much like a weed, and can be difficult to get rid of.

Know your Field Garlic - Cultivation

• An easily grown plant, it prefers a sunny position in a light well-drained soil. 
• The bulbs should be planted fairly deeply. 
• Seed is rarely if ever produced in Britain. 
• The plant usually produces many small bulbils in the flowering head and these can spread themselves freely around the garden. 
• Grows well with most plants, especially roses, carrots, beet and chamomile, but it inhibits the growth of legumes. 
• This plant is a bad companion for alfalfa, each species negatively affecting the other. 
• Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.