mulch on bulbs question.

I made a new bulb garden--What do you think is the best mulch to keep them warm over winter and will provide a little weed control? These are my choices --wood chips--dried grass--pine needles--dried leaves- or peat moss? I appreciate your input.

I have thoughts on a couple of them...
--Peat moss is not a good idea. If it dries out, it is very hard to rewet, so water will basically roll right off it rather than soaking through to the ground underneath. It will also make the area more acidic, which may or may not be OK depending on what your soil's natural pH is and what plant you're trying to grow. But because of the rewetting issue, I would absolutely not use it as mulch.
--Pine needles will also tend to make things slightly more acidic--this is great for some plants but maybe less great for others. Unless your soil was already fairly acidic though there aren't too many plants that it would be really bad for, and if you're growing acid lovers like rhododendrons & azaleas then it could help them be happier.
--Dried leaves would work fine, but I'd shred them up if you can. Otherwise, they can mat down on top of the soil and prevent water from getting through as well as it could. I have a leaf blower/vac that has a shredder, but if you don't have one of those you could run your lawnmower over them, or I've heard of people throwing them in a sturdy trash can and running the string trimmer through them

Well I can tell you about 2. I use tons, I mean tons of free wood chips and I find them magnificient.
I have had dropped from tree trimmers on my property over 250 yards of wood chips just this last 2 years. I got in trouble from my city this year cause one guy dropped 150 yds. and I was not able to distribute them cause of the heat this summer. So I had to hire some guys to move it for me
so it was not free. But I love it. It breaks down slowly as compared to cedar mulch( it is bigger)
and it can provide a great cover for bare soil, weed control, heck I have left it in huge piles along
one hundred feet of my property to build berms when I was tired of bringing in and paying for soil.
The second one I use allot is leaf mulch. If ground up real small it is the best to use on beds where you definitely want to improve the soil ASAP. It breaks down faster than wood chips and is a real soil improver and it attracts all the earth movers, worms, sow bugs, centipedes, and the like.
It is my preferred mulch. But for places I want to keep weed free longer its wood chips. Grass is too smelly on its own and molds up. It's best use in a green/carbon mix in a compost pile. Pine needle I love also but yes they are more acidic. If you have lots I would mix them with wood chips around roses and use them alone with acid loving plants. Peat moss not applicable for mulch I agree. Good Luck Julie

soapwort, given your location I'd agree with jazzzy that the wood chips would be a good choice. (Depending on how thick you lay it though you might want to consider pulling it away from your bulbs in the Spring to allow the ground to warm up more consistently and help to stave off any bulb rot if you have lots of ground moisture at that time.)

Straw would be your very best bet though but I see that is not on your list of supplies.

Regarding pine needles, they have such a tiny negligible affect on reducing soil pH that I wouldn't worry about it for years to come.

As for your dried grass and leaves, I'd put those in a compost bin and add your kitchen scraps to them...will give you some great compost for next year!

Happy growing!
Shoe

Thanks alot for all the great advice!

I am happy to say that I am all done with my mulching. I was able to find some free wood chips. They are pretty finely shredded and I did mix a layer of dried pine needles,(they are the long thin 4 inch ones) and chopped leaves to that, but mostly it is wood chips.(an extra handful of pine needles on the roses). The dried grass -I put in the compost bin. I'm all set for winter. Thanks much !