Well, I'm not planning to remove the mulch at all. In fact, just last weekend, I put more on!

I reserve protective mulch for those plants of questionable hardiness- most tulips and daffodils are fully hardy in my zone. Do you have tender varieties?

I should have phrased it better! IÂm not worried about the tulips and daffodils. None of those are iffy for hardiness. I only mentioned those because they are the only things that have emerged and may be damaged or beheaded if I wait to rake off the mulch. The mulch is there to protect the perennials. IÂm not talking about pretty mulch, but sodden leaves. When it was cold enough to apply mulch last fall all the mulch was long gone from the stores. The best I could do was collect willow and ash leaves and rake them over the garden. I expect there will be grass or weed seeds in there so ultimately it will have to be removed.

When you lift the mulch partly depends on how deep it is. Full leaves, sodden and heavy, should be removed completely from the crowns of the plants and perhaps lightened in the areas between plants. Again, it depends on how thick the layer was to begin with. I have two garden sections that seem to collect every dang leaf in the neighborhood and I usually let most of them remain all winter. I realize I court crown rot but so far so good.

All that said, I began removing the heavy leaves about three weeks ago, just a bit at a time, starting around the spring bulbs. I pretty much finished the job a couple of days ago. Spring is so late coming this year that nothing has come up far enough to the point where it would get damaged by a mid (or later) April freeze.

I do not remove my leaves. The bulbs come up through the mulch.

Re: leaves

I mulch almost exclusively with fallen leaves every fall, and I do not remove/rake back in spring. Everything comes up fine through the leaves.

Leaves make an excellent mulch, no need to remove and replace with something else. Yes, there are weed seeds, but nothing unmanageable. The way I look at it, the mulch is F-R-E-E outside of a little labor. :)

mxk3, I mulch with leaves too - the ones chopped up by the lawnmower. That layer stays on forever, getting worked into the soil when I plant new stuff or put compost on top or whatever. However, the big heavy wet full leaves have to be lifted after they've done their winter duty. Nuthin' would come up through six inches of that muck. Well, maybe the most tenacious of the tenacious would but it wouldn't be the plant display I want and work so hard for.

They are kind of matted: crusty on top and soggy underneath. (Appetizing, I know!) They were not shredded. I "suggested" how to shred them with the lawnmower to my DH, but I donÂt think he got it, or decided not to do it. (IÂm glad he helps in the garden in the first place, so wonÂt complain. I have carpal tunnel, so he does a lot, plus all the lawn and shrub care.)

I have so many perennials that I canÂt remember where everything is until I see enough of it coming up. The bulbs are getting through it fine, but the perennials planted last year may not be able to.

You're more north than I, I'm in Peoria in Central Illinois and I run usually a couple of weeks ahead of you. As much snowfall as you all had this winter, is your ground still even frozen?

I started cleaning off my beds/borders a few weeks ago. First it was cutting down old perennial tops that I don't cut back in the fall, and prunning clematis. Then it was rake the fallen but not removed leaves from last fall. It was kinda loosen them up a bit to start and then finally all off. As my trees over some areas are maple they tend to mat and stay wet and my bulbs can't get through properly.

It all cleaned off now, tulips are about four to five inches up, crocus are blooming, daffs are about two inches up. Some perennials are starting to show some signs of life, daylilies are are coming. Your danger of thaw/freeze thaw/freeze heave is gone, though you're bound to still have some frosty mornings.

Gentley poke around under the leaves, chances are your garden will tell you when it's time. And forget forget to check a look-see on your 10 and 15 day weather forecast.

I was planting bulbs this morning (tulips and such) that I picked up in pots and 1/2 flats from Lowes.

Well, I still disagree that the unshredded leaves have to be removed. I put down a good 6" of unshredded leaves and I don't rake back/remove in the spring, and everything comes up fine right through it. Yea, it's a mucky mess, but the plants just don't seem to care.

Think about it this way: Who rakes back the leaves in the forest? Yet all that gorgeous flora thrives, from the tiniest spring ephemerals to the big 'ol ferns and everything in between.

I agree with mxk3. Wet, heavy layers of crusty, sodden muck are not evil. That said, I do poke around and expose the growing tips of the plants, because it makes me happy to see growing things and mess around in the garden in early spring. I did some of that two weeks ago, well after the daffs and squills were up.

Evil? hee, hee. I certainly don't think "heavy layers of crusty sodden muck are evil". Possibly everything would come up nice and strong, a la the forest. Perhaps moving the heavy leaves is just an excuse for me to poke around in the garden and see what survived and what did not. I'd consider just moving the leaves to the sides and letting the crowns open to the air but I generally scatter seed in the beds and it's going nowhere if it sits on top of sodden leaves.

Whatever and however we do it...I'm just darned glad it's finally getting warm enough to get back out there!

Hi linnea,
We are in the same area and I also use shredded leaves for winter protection.
I usually go out now and take some off and fluff up what is matted down. This gives the plant air flow and still protects them. As plants emerge I give them some sun and fresh air.

But if you remember from last year, the third week in April we had some frost. I keep a couple of garbage cans full of leaves that I removed just in case. Also if plants do unfurl I use large containers to cover them if frost threatens. Just keep an eye on the weather reports.

Kcbarbara, I removed all the mulch from my gardens. (Omaha,Ne). You mentioned scattering seed. I've only gardened for two years now...and I'm wondering about this method. Do you cover them with a thin layer of dirt? I want to sow some cosmos and Zinnia's in the back of some lily's and Iris. What do you think? Annie

Annie, usually I throw a little dirt or compost on top just to hold them down. Be sure to check whether your particular seed needs light to germinate; those you wouldn't want to cover much, if at all. Cosmos and zinnias are pretty fool proof - you shouldn't have much trouble getting them to grow. Wait until it's fairly warm with the zins, though. They won't germinate until both the nights and days are warmish, 50 or above. If someone has different experience, I'm sure we'll hear about it! Gardening results are always unique to each gardener.

I usually mulch with leaves and compost too. In the fall, I leave most of the plant foliage standing and that catches lots of leaves that get blown into the garden beds. I rake even more into them and they stay there all winter. They are a rich brown color, and I think they look quite attractive when more or less evenly spread and neatly raked on the edges.

Just around the beginning of Spring, I started to rake them back off the garden, about half of them or so. This may not be necessary, but it serves a few purposes.

- it prevents the bulbs from getting that weird yellow color because they've been growing for awhile under a couple inches of leaves
- the soil warms up a bit faster
- the reseeders probably get more of a chance to sprout, and I love to poke around in the garden and see what's reseeded
- it gives me the chance to move stuff around, which I inevitably do EVERY spring, all spring long, without dealing with raking clumps of leaves around.

In late Spring, when everything gets planted or transplanted or divided, and is more or less settled for the season, I usually add some extra shredded leaves and compost as mulch at that point.

This is my first tulip, crocus and daffodil bed ever, and I covered it with Hay. Do I need to remove it and when? I already have some crocus's starting to show.