[Zeedman]

I learned not to plant garlic on the low end of the garden. It can tolerate a lot of winter cold, but wet feet in Spring will cause heavy losses. A foot of standing water qualifies as "wet feet".

Provide plenty of drainage (plant on raised beds if necessary) and cover with a good layer of hay to reduce both weeds and frost heave.

After digging, I dry the garlic in the garden initially, until the soil on the roots crumbles off easily. I protect it from the sun by covering it with some of the hay that it was mulched with. Once I've removed the excess soil, the garlic gets hung up to cure in an unheated shed.