sounds like a good idea to me.

Use what you have. I always mulch mine with pine straw because my yard is at the edge of a pine forest. Sometimes when I nab a few bags of leaves, I pull back the pine straw, spread the leaves, then cover again with pine straw. I find the pine straw blows around less, knitting itself together with all its sharp points.

Depending on my supply of PS, I sometimes dig amendments into my bed, spread the PS on top, then use a dibble to poke the planting hole through the mulch and soil at the same time, plant the garlic, and water to settle the soil back down. I don't really make an effort to cover each hole with more mulch. Then in the spring the greens grow up through the thinned mulch without any problems. Of course, if I have to rake the pine straw AND plant the garlic, the planting comes first and the PS gets spread later. Hey, I can only do so much in a day! ;-)

Catherine

I have used pine straw for mulch and have never had a problem with it.