leaves are fine, and free. chop them up if you can, so they stay where put. chopping will also prevent matting from occurring. one year, i had several inches of leaves on my garlic, that i did not remove soon enough, and discovered my garlic had sprouted several inches beneath the mat. i may have broke off some stems before realizing what the situation was. wood shavings would prolly work ok too. we have places here that make wood products, and saw dust is available.
keith
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