Garlic requires nearly perfect weed control because it emerges slowly and matures in 10 to 11 months, and its short vertical leaves never form a canopy. Growers, therefore, often control all weedy vegetation immediately before the crop emerges (often in wet weather), applying a selective soil-applied herbicide for winter weed control and adding treatments in spring, depending on specific weed infestations. A typical strategy is to apply flumioxazin and glyphosate after planting, followed by pendimethalin after the garlic has two leaves and clethodim or other grass herbicide if grasses persist. If rotating into sites that have been in grass seed production for an extended time, herbicide resistant grass species may be present and will influence which herbicides to apply.
