Gardening enthusiasts on Reddit have shared helpful tips after one amateur asked whether one of their plants would survive the cold conditions of the winter months
Ian Craig Social Newsdesk Content Editor
13:44, 28 Nov 2025
Winter isn’t necessarily the most obvious time of year for gardening (stock image)(Image: Getty Images/Cavan Images RF)
Winter might not seem like the ideal season for gardening, but green-fingered Brits need to think about protecting their cherished plants from harsh conditions. While some varieties cope well during colder months, others can be seriously damaged or completely destroyed by freezing temperatures, strong winds and heavy rainfall.
An amateur gardener turned to Reddit’s GardeningUK forum seeking advice on keeping their garlic plant alive until spring arrives. Alongside a photograph showing the potted plant with four shoots emerging from the soil, they explained: “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.”
Fellow users reassured them that garlic plants are robust enough to withstand winter weather. One responded: “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 person commented: “They are fully hardy, so just leave them be.” A third added: “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.”
Other gardeners offered advice to give the plant the best opportunity to flourish, reports the Mirror. One suggested: “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.”
Another reassured: “Garlic is supposed to be overwintered, so it will be fine. Just leave them to grow now.”
The original poster responded: “Thanks! I will do this today in that case.”
In reply to the same suggestion, someone else commented: “The cold in fact helps the garlic to mature in taste. Great tip with the leaves. This is making me want to plant some!”.
A fellow gardener added: “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!”.
One user explained: “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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