I planted my garlic last week, and after tucking the 30 plump cloves into their bed, my thoughts turned to protecting them from freezing temperatures and stealth animals that dig them up every year and leave them on the soil surface to mock me. So, this year, I laid bird netting over the soil (chicken wire would work, too, perhaps better, but I used what I had). Then, I covered the whole thing with about 4 inches of straw.
This is good practice for protecting any bulbs you plant, especially those deemed more gastronomically enticing to wildlife than garlic, like tulips and crocuses. Protect those bulbs Chicken wire and netting serve as physical barriers that deter digging while allowing sunlight and water to reach the soil. Use landscape pins, stakes or stones to hold it in place or attach its outer edges to the wood frame of a raised bed with nails or a staple gun.
You can remove it in spring, but this isn’t necessary; shoots and stems will find their way through the openings as they grow. Straw is a beneficial mulch material that helps regulate soil temperatures, prevents bulbs and plant crowns from lifting out of the ground during the freeze-thaw cycles of winter, adds nutrients to the soil as it decomposes and helps to retain moisture. It also cuts down on premature sprouting during winter warm spells.
Straw, not hay Do not use hay, which is grown as animal feed and, as you know, is for horses. It also contains tall grass, alfalfa, clover or other seed heads that would .