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Gartenkern.de

Allium ursinum

Wild garlic

Common names: Ramsons

At a glance

Light
Partial shade
Spacing
15 cm, rows 20 cm
Lifespan
Perennial
Sowing
Sep–Oct
Harvest
Mar–May
Hardiness
Hardy down to −15 °C
Water need
High
Origin
Native to Germany
Wild garlic

Photo: Agnes Monkelbaan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

This description was machine-translated.

Description

Wild garlic is the wild garlic of our deciduous forests and one of the first messengers of spring. From March to May, it carpets moist, semi-shaded areas under trees. Its garlic aroma seasons pesto, soups, and quark. Caution when gathering: the leaves resemble the poisonous lily of the valley, but smell distinctly of garlic when crushed.

Care instructions

Sow the seeds freshly in September or October, as they are cold germinators and require winter frost. Plant wild garlic under shrubs or a tree in a humus-rich, moist, and shady location and keep the soil evenly moist. Harvest the leaves before flowering and always leave a portion standing, then it will naturalize into a dense stand on its own.

The care notes were machine-translated from German.

Garden year

SowingSep–Oct

HarvestMar–May

Germination

Soil temperature
from 2 °C, ideally 5 °C
Days to sprout
60 to 180 days
Light
Needs darkness to sprout
Sowing depth
1 cm
How to start
Sow straight into the bed

Soil & site

Soil pH

4.0pH 6–7.58.0

Soil type

humus-rich, loamy, moist, well-drained, nutrient-rich

LightPartial shade
Hours of sunat least 1 h a day
HardinessHardy
Water needHigh

Ramsons want a permanently fresh to moist, deep, humus-rich and loose soil, just like woodland soil: loamy and humus-rich, well-drained, with a covering of leaves as mulch. They do not tolerate waterlogging or summer drought. They even like chalky soil; they avoid strongly acidic soils. When planting, it is best to mix in mature leaf compost.

Feeding

Light feeder

Months

Mar, Oct, Nov

On humus-rich soil, ramsons largely look after themselves. They naturally grow on nutrient-rich, slightly nitrogen-rich woodland soils, but you do not need to feed actively. In autumn, lay a thin layer of well-rotted leaf compost as mulch; this imitates the leaf fall of the woodland floor and covers the need until growth begins. If growth is weak, work some mature compost in shallowly in early spring before shoots appear.

Overwintering

Ramsons are fully hardy and need no protection. The bulb stays in the soil permanently, and after dying back in early summer the plant survives as a dormant bulb until the next late winter. Only in a container do you give it a spot sheltered from wind and frost against a house wall, so that the root ball does not freeze through completely.

Propagation

Methods

  • From seed
  • Division
  • Offsets

Ramsons can be propagated in three ways, although division and bulb planting lead to results much faster than sowing.

Sowing (seeds): Ramsons are strict cold-stratification seeds. The seeds need a cold or frost period of several weeks before they germinate. It is best to sow fresh seed shallowly at the intended spot straight after ripening in early summer or in autumn (September to October); over winter the frost takes care of the cold treatment by itself. Sources disagree on sowing depth: some treat ramsons as light germinators and advise covering them only with a wafer-thin layer (at most 0.5 to 1 cm), others as dark germinators that want to go somewhat deeper into the soil. If in doubt, cover shallowly and keep the spot evenly moist. Older seeds germinate much worse, so use fresh seed wherever possible. Expect a germination time of around 14 to 18 months, with seedlings often appearing only in the second spring, and the first worthwhile harvest only in the third year.

Bulb division / dividing clumps (division + offsets): This is the fastest and most reliable method. Lift an existing clump after flowering in May/June, as soon as the foliage begins to turn yellow and die back. The plant has then drawn its energy back into the bulbs. Carefully divide the clump by hand or with a clean knife into segments, each with its own bulbs and roots. Replant the segments straight away in a partly shaded spot with humus-rich, moist soil, about as deep as they stood before. Keep a spacing of 10 to 20 cm between the pieces. Individual daughter bulbs (bulblets) can also be planted in late summer/autumn (September/October). Work quickly, as the bulbs dry out fast and then no longer take root.

Companion planting

Good neighbors

carrot family (Apiaceae)

Umbellifers and alliums confuse each other's pests (carrot fly, onion fly).

For example CarrotCeleriacDillParsleyFlorence fennelCoriander and 21 more species in the catalogue

Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)

rose family (Rosaceae)

You can plant garlic and chives under strawberries and roses; their scent repels aphids and other pests.

For example StrawberryAppleRaspberryClimbing rosePearAronia and 59 more species in the catalogue

Source: Bio-Gärtnerei Mixed Culture Practice

Rather not

legume family (Fabaceae)

particularly well established

Allium species inhibit the nitrogen‑fixing rhizobia of legumes through their root exudates, which slows their growth.

For example PeaBush beanPole beanBroad beanSnow peaWrinkled pea and 36 more species in the catalogue

Source: basic crop‑rotation rule

Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.

Some of these explanations were machine-translated.

For your garden

Grow Wild garlic yourself

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