Wild garlic

[Andy Jones]

I built my home on land that has never been occupied before,forest land that I cleared off for a house site and garden spot.I've never grown garlic,yet there is garlic growing everywhere.There are clumps of 10 to 20 stalks all over my yard and in the surrounding woods.It is beginning to send up flower stalks and fall over.There wasn't any outside dirt hauled in when I built.

I'm not complaining,just curious how it may have gotten there.Anyone have any ideas where the garlic may have come from?

Andy

[NCLee]

There's the possibility that at one time in the past your place was a part of a homestead. Sometimes plants from such a site will continue long after the remains of the homestead have disappeared. There are several such sites near our home, There's one directly behind our house on the hill across the creek. It's in woods now. About 40 years ago the land was in cultivation. At the homestead site pieces of broken pottery and such turned up from time to time.

Another one has peach and apple trees. I know when bulldozers took down that house and the barn. Enough years have passed that there's no signs of those buildings. Yet, as of last year, the fruit trees live on.

Lee

[DM]

I'm just wondering if it's really garlic, or are they "ramps" that many folks call wild garlic? My woodlot is full of ramps and my dad always called wild garlic, i just dug a bunch of them last week...

DM

[AlchemyAcres]

I built my home on land that has never been occupied before,forest land that I cleared off for a house site and garden spot.I've never grown garlic,yet there is garlic growing everywhere.There are clumps of 10 to 20 stalks all over my yard and in the surrounding woods.It is beginning to send up flower stalks and fall over.There wasn't any outside dirt hauled in when I built.

I'm not complaining,just curious how it may have gotten there.Anyone have any ideas where the garlic may have come from?

Andy

It's impossible to give a good answer without knowing exactly what you have.

There are literally hundreds of species of alliums.

What is generally referred to as wild garlic in this area is allium vineale, which isn't a pleasant plant compared to the 'real' stuff.

Here's a list of allium species...LOL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Allium_species


~Martin

[bookwormom]

I bought seed and tried to plant ramps. are the leaves sort of resembling lily of the valley? we did not use to have wild garlic, long stems sort of resembling a thick blade of chive, and now it is everywhere. I did not do a thing. but we have animals. plants have a way to spread, by being eaten and pooped, clinging to fur. I have no idea how wild garlic does it, but it sure has a way. They grow well in spots where I put down weedcloth and mulch. go figure.