i don't see any problem. it will all die in another 3 weeks, come spring if it grows too much for you to tolerate you can always remove the straw and re-mulch with new straw or shredded leaves. i don't see how it could harm your garlic.

tom

Next time use wood chips, with some wood ash and urea to balance the pH and the N. Garlic is notorious for being weak against weeds, and leaves, if matted, can stop a garlic shoot from coming through.

If you are really good with timing, you can try interplanting early lettuce, without the chips. Whenever I tried that, I got good lettuce but I still had to weed. I also tried grass clippings. Only wood chips eliminate weeds in garlic.

Don't stress over it, I pull some wheat out of my garlic rows every year..hazards of using straw as a blanket. in the spring I go out and pull some out every day it's nice and have a few minutes to spend in the plots. like Tom said..it isn't a big problem.

Yes, I sometimes use a composted wood product for mulch (sawdust consistency) and have started to mulch with a heavy layer of composted chicken manure in mid-winter which does a GREAT job of smothering any weeds that might dare to come up in my raised beds.