Next to our place is a vacant acre lot where the house was removed about 10 years ago. The garlic from their garden kept spreading over those years. There was a patch about 30x70 feet and other clumps here and there. A neighbor who was related to those people told me that the garlic was German Red. I spent some time investigating. There were 9 inch or so balls of bulbs mixed in with rounds. The bulbs were small, maybe an inch in diameter. I planted some of the cloves and got bulbs as large as 3 inches in diameter the first year. I would guess that these wilded plants will tend to grow for many years without problem because the spreading is accomplished by the bulblets bending the scapes over so that the plant can move a foot or two each year. Garlic plants grown from bulbils grow plants that are said to clear any plant diseases that would continue in plants grown from cloves. The 30x70 foot clump was mostly to the north of a huge shade tree, with a 3 foot in diameter trunk. In the spring into early summer the only thing growing there was the garlic but then the weeds would crowd out the garlic. When the scapes were on the plants the clump was still mainly weed free. I'm guessing that the shade helped the garlic overcome weed pressure.

i moved from suburbia.. to 5 acres ... 500 feet on a side ... 4 sides.. if that need be said.. lol ... in suburbia... you need to mess at the lot line.. because you dont have anywhere else to do this... it took me a few years out here in Gods country to understand that isnt so on a large space ... let me be very clear ... THERE IS NO REASON FOR YOU TO BE WORKING AT THE LOT LINE ... 300 feet from the house ... you can probably do the whole job.. with 4 or 5 well spaced and sized trees/conifers... about 50 feet from the house ... working off 'views' from decks.. windows.. etc ... those are the first plants to put in ... then you go mess around 300 feet from the house ... i dont know about canada ... but what you are building.. is a soil conservation tree line.. which in your world.. is a sight block line... my county soil conservation office ... offers small.. CHEAP trees.. conifers.. and shrubs ... at proper planting times... for next to nothing ... say 25 plants in the one to two foot range for $15 .... this is how you plant 400 feet ... you dont go buying potted stock.. unless you win the lotto ... of which.. you already said.. your budget is limited ... but you might invest in the larger stock.. for the first mentioned plants ... you should have a lot of local or provincial resources.. find them .. unfortunately .... i dont know the key words to help you ... call an agricultural office ... sooo.. in other words.. you are sitting in a box.. at the lot line.. lets get out of the box.. and widen our options ... i am a 'see it with my eyes' sort of guy.. your words fail to trigger any ideas in my head ... how about some pix???? spend some time at the link ... to learn about buying forestry sized.. and priced stock ... you of course.. would have to find a canadian equivalent .... i have no clue what you think your budget is.. but if you are working on 400 feet.. let me suggest.. this is the type of resource you need.. rather than bigboxstore etc ... perhaps it is within your budget ... to do it all now ???? ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

The biggest make or break provider when growing out of zone is your micro climate. It can vary one zone up/down in your own yard. If you don't have that area that provides the extra covering protection then sooner or later your conifer will perish. A micro climate is simply the local climate on a small scale. Micro climates are formed by hills and valleys, structures, paved areas, hedges, etc. These features may change airflow patterns, alter day length or light intensities, trap heat during the day and slowly release it during the night, or in other ways modify local climate. These 3 things need to be considered when growing plants adapted to a hardness zone warmer then your own. Location: Planting your warm-climate plants in a sunny, south-facing location against a fence or sun drenched wall will counteract the effects of shorter days and cold north winds. Shelter: Taking the time to tuck your plants in close proximity to a wind break screen again facing south is help full Mulch: A thick layer of dark-colored mulch keeps frost out of the ground and allows the soil to warm up earlier in the spring. Forget the overwintering for the first few years. That won't get it. Only providing the above mentioned protections on a permanent basis will insure a better then average survival rate when growing out of zone. Dave

Correct - what I like and what you like and what dviolet likes - we can pick 3 different ones out of 3. Regarding selling the plants and when to sell them. My theory is that the plants perform the best first 2 years of their lives... then they slow down. Sometimes rerooting the crown rejuvenates them. Sometimes you can reroot the crown, keep the stump with several leaves - not all - but may be 3-4 to let the light hit the stem - and you get several high quality suckers to root in a month or 2. In any case - some plants slow down dramatically with age, some less - but if you have a younger replacement plant - let the old one go. Yeah - I know - somebody kept Superman alive for 54 years until it croaked. But - it was a curiosity and - pardon me - an ugly thing to start with. The only reason to keep the the old one - if it a really good line. Or original hybrid. That's what big sellers do - they select the best - and keep them as stock plants to harvest the leaves.