Dear Kathy,
I have been growing garlic for many years here in coastal MA in zone 6. I grow in raised beds, four by eight feet. I have had years when the garlic grew up early through the eight inches of straw mulch that I lay down after planting and they came through the winter just fine. Wouldn't worry about it. However, I would strongly suggest that you NOT remove the mulch in the springtime. It suppresses weeds and retains moisture and the garlic grows right up through it and loves the cool soil on those hot June and July days. I grow hardneck/artichoke varieties and they do quite well. Hope this helps.
victor

You might consider removing the mulch when the bulbs are ready to harvest, as it would help the ground to dry out and keep the bulbs from getting overmature and then they don't keep as well.

I have heard that planting garlic too deep makes for smaller heads... which I have found to be true from my own personal experience. So you might want to pull back part of the mulch at least, leaving just enough to help with weed suppression and moisture retention.

And don't worry about them sprouting, they do that for me every year, and it's nice having a little greenery holding on through the winter in the garden =)

Lori

Hi Kathy,
I would not remove any mulch at this point. One of the major reasons for winter mulching in zone 6 is to prevent the alternate freezing and thawing of the soil which disturbs roots and hampers overall development. I use a good eight inches of straw and replenish it from time to time during the winter months if necessary. I grow nice sized bulbs. A "planting depth too deep" refers to the amount of soil over the bulb not straw mulch over the soil surface. The university of Ohio has some good garlic info on their web site as do many of the catalogs from reputable suppliers. I have planted my usual German and Polish hardnecks and some new for me Artichoke garlic varieties this fall. Some many wonderful types of garlic.... so little time.
Good gardening

In zone 5, you would'n want to remove anything from around the garlics now, but instead mulch them. When the spring arrives remove most of it so that the top of garlic bulb is exposed. Onions and garlics do better when their bulb are partly out of soil when they have developed root system.
Also, it is better not to plant them them very deep, to begin with. When I plant mine the top/tip of cloves are about half of inch covered. This way they come up easily and naturally the bulb will be close to the surface. Garlics and Onions will grow deep and strong roots, no matter how shallow they are planted. That is those roots that get the nutrient not the bulbs. The bulbs are the fruits.

Thank you everyone for all your guidance--it is most helpful.

I plant my garlic (hardneck) about 6 inches down--have to dig them with a spading fork. I get huge heads of Chesnok Red and Leningrad. I've been growing and saving these two for over 10 years now. I never heard of exposing the tops of the bulbs. I mulch after planting, leave the mulch on in spring. Right now, they're peeping out of the mulch.

Sorry, I wasn't clear... when I said pull back some of the mulch, I meant in the spring, not now... definitely keep them mulched over the winter!

There is a big difference between growing up north here and down south where it doesn't freeze over in the winter. We want to protect the clove from freezing so we plant them a little deeper...I plant so there is 2" of soil on top the clove when I set it. I use straw 4-6" to insulate the ground from the cold wind which will freeze dry your plants if it's cold enough, I've seen it happen to a 1/2 acre of elephant garlic. Please keep bulbs underground or covered up..garlic can get sunburned from being exposed.
-bloo