My understanding is mulching in the fall is one of the best things you can do - both to improve the soil and protect whatever may already be in the ground there - so I wouldn't wait.

Why not put down a layer of another mulch now, even if only a thin layer if you don't want to "taint" your garden with a product you think is inferior. By spring it will probably have partially decomposed and mixed in anyway (and you'll need to mulch again in the spring, anyway, too).

I use leaves over the winter (and shredded leaves in the Spring). Lots of leaves fall and blow into the garden anyway, where they are captured by the stalks of the fading perennials and grasses. I leave most of the plants standing for winter interest and seedheads/cover for the birds. I then rake a few more leaves from the grass into the garden beds and make a nice thick cover.

IMO they make a nice natural mulch. Some people say that the leaves provide a perfect habitat for voles, but I don't have that problem. In the Spring I usually rake some out, to warm up the soil and let the bulbs emerge freely, but this year it was SO dry during the Spring that leaving more of the leaves would have conserved the moisture better.

Here's an idea what it looks like with leaves. I am a naturalist and like the rich, natural brownish-red color, even in my front borders.

{{gwi:231146}}

Beware... mulch in the fall sends a signal for all the neighborhood voles and their pals to spend winter there and disturb/destroy your plants.

The conventional wisdom is to wait til the ground freezes. But that's not always practical. Pretty cold to work outdoors in December!

I made a conscious choice last fall to mulch a bed where I just had done a lot of moving and dividing. I lost about 1/3 of the bed to voles. Although I may have lost some anyhow. THere was a lot of snow cover too, which voles like.

If you planted shrubs and trees or large perennials, you may be okay to put a thin layer of mulch down. But small plants are at risk to not survive even a little vole damage.

On the other hand, small plants are at risk without mulch their first winter.

The joys of gardening... LOL

If I have new at-risk babes, I try to remember to save a bucket or so of mulch in the garage and mulch them in December. Hmmmm... thanks for the reminder.. I will have to go take inventory of such candidates

Oh joy! My hubby put down heavy mulch like shredded bark across the house front after I put in the Green Velvet boxwoods. They are prospering nicely, but are you telling me they are at risk for VOLES because of all the mulch?
And the rugosa roses down by the road are also heavily mulched.

We have a small number of voles already digging the dirt in the back yard here. And last spring after we returned, I saw the mess they made of the front lawn, apparently under cover of all that snow. What can I expect to find when we return next spring? What can I do between now and when we depart the week of Thanksgiving?

I would put down mulch before spring, but I would wait until the ground freezes if you have a vole problem. I, unfortunately, do have a vole problem, so I put my leaves down sometime in December, after the ground freezes. My oak leaves fall very late anyway, so it kind of works out.

If you do not have a vole problem, then I would put a layer of mulch down while the weather is nice, for your benefit, lol. But either way, I would put down mulch before spring. Shredded leaves are great - free, easy, good for the soil, and you won't have to take them up to put down your mulch in spring.

:)
Dee

I put down mulch both fall and Spring. I use mulched leaves (I use my lawn mover to mulch them). I do wait until the ground freezes, not only because of moles and vale, but because otherwise all the little bugs that love to eat up your garden find a nice warm place to over winter. Also using whole leaves isn't recomended because they can mate down and prevent water from intering the soil.