A Reddit user asked what they should do to keep a common plant in their garden growing well over the winter, and whether it would be able to withstand the elements
12:45, 28 Nov 2025Updated 12:45, 28 Nov 2025
There are gardening jobs to be done in winter just like the rest of the year (stock image)(Image: Getty Images)
Winter might not be the most obvious time to be thinking about getting out in the garden, but gardeners do need to consider how to make sure their precious plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables survive the cold conditions. Some plants survive fine in the colder months, while others are easily damaged or destroyed entirely by the cold, wind, and rain.
One amateur gardener posted a question to Reddit’s GardeningUK forum asking how best to make sure their garlic plant survives until the spring. Along with a picture of the plant in a pot in their garden, with four sprouts growing up from the soil, they wrote: “Hi all, I’m a pretty clueless gardener who has so far just been getting little tips and whatnot from TikTok.
“I saw a few videos on growing garlic and decided to give it a go, so I planted four cloves from a supermarket garlic around a month ago, and I don’t know if this is a normal amount of growth or not, but do I just leave them out here until early summer next year? Will they survive the cold etc? Thanks in advance.”
Users agreed garlic plants are hardy enough to survive the winter. One wrote: “Just leave them, they will be fine.
“Garlic needs a period of frost in order to divide into cloves for next year. They look to be growing well.
“As long as you have good drainage in the pot so the roots don’t rot, they will be absolutely fine in cold weather. You just let them do their thing until they are ready to harvest in summer.”
Another wrote: “They are fully hardy, so just leave them be.”
Someone else said: “It’ll be fine outside. Garlic shrugs off frost no problem. I just leave mine alone until spring. If your soil gets really wet you can mulch lightly, but otherwise don’t overthink it.”
Others had tips to give the plant the best chance of growing well. One said: “Sweep up some leaves and put them into the pot. It’ll help keep them alive from the worst of the frost/cold and help make good soil.
“Garlic is supposed to be overwintered, so it will be fine. Just leave them to grow now.” The original user replied: “Thanks! I will do this today in that case.”
Replying to the same comment, someone else wrote: “The cold in fact helps the garlic to mature in taste. Great tip with the leaves. This is making me want to plant some!”
Another user wrote: “They need the cold so it’ll be fine! I don’t put mine in ’till Jan as they can get waterlogged, so just keep an eye on the pot that it’s not too wet (mine are in the ground so it’s a bit easier to control). They’re doing well so you should have some nice garlic off them!”
Another user wrote: “You can grow from supermarket-bought garlic, but it’s best to buy horticultural as the shop-bought ones have often been treated with growth suppression chemicals. There are two types of garlic, those that can be planted in autumn to be overwintered, and those that are planted in spring.
“With supermarket garlic you won’t know which is which. Yours will probably be ok, but you might not get very big. There’s only one way to find out!”
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