I would run the lawn mower over the leaves to shred them and apply them as a mulch, but I wouldn't cover the plants. They'll probably be mostly gone by spring, and then you can apply more mulch, compost, etc.

Keep in mind the reasons we do mulch;
1) to suppress "weed" growth
2) to aid in soil moisture retention
3) to aid in controlling the soils temperature, and
4) to prevent soil erosion
Since about the 1930's the USDA's Soil Conservation Service, and now the Natuaral Resources Conservation Service, have tried to tell us of the importance of always covering the soil for erosion control as well as the importance of continually adding organic matter to the soil. It is simply amazing to me that there are garden writters that still write that you should not mulch, or that it is unnecessary to plant a cover crop (too expensive with little return).
People that have these concerns about mulch causing rot in plants have a really sick soil. Very few plant disease pathogens will be active during the winter months, but if your soil does not drain as it should, whether you mulch or not, plants will rot if sufficient soil moisture is present. A little common sense tells you that you would not pile mulches on top of plants, or at least it should, and that you cover the bare soil, and that you make sure your soil is good and healthy so the plants will grow strong and healthy so diseases won't adversly affect them.

Yes, shred the leaves and pile them around your plants, not covering the crowns. I have been using nothing but shredded leaves in my gardens for mulch and after a few months the soil underneath is dark and crumbly, rich, filled with worms.

The leaf mulch will help keep the hostas cooler in the summer. As far as your tulips go, these tend to decline over time. Very few varieties will perennialize long-term except for some of the species. This has less to do with your soil condition than it has to do with most of N. America not having the right climate for tulips.

Strawberries will also decline after a few years and become far less productive than previous years. If they are the kind that set runners, you should probably start a new bed next year with the babies and discard the mother plants.

Once stuff starts going dormant- shred them and apply. I throw them up in the air so that it disperses and gets even coverage. Mulch is only a problem when it's covering foliage (which will grow up through the mulch in the spring- so no prob), or piled several inches deep against a trunk. A little touching a stem or trunk is no issue- look at leaves in the woods.

I agree with veilchen on the tulips and strawberries. Around here tulips are mainly grown as annuals. As for the strawberries, I start a new bed about every 5 years. Leaves are not recommended as a mulch for strawberries because they can mat when they get wet. Straw is the best winter mulch for them because the rain runs through it into the ground. The plants are tough and you aren't protecting them from the cold, but trying to minimize the frost heaving so the crowns don't get pushed too far out of the ground.

Hmm. I put shredded leaves on my strawberry bed each year with no problem. I have used whole leaves as a mulch on spring flowering bulb beds with no real problems. Many people grow Tulips as annuals because they do not have the good, organic matter rich soil Tulips need to regrow and multiply, and with out the needed nutrients in the soil after flowering Tulips cannot make the flower for next year, or produce the offsets that will become more bulbs in the future. Daffofils originated in somewhat poorer soils and developed coping mechanisms early on.

I had this flower/perrenial garden from the former owners that was left alone and started reverting to woods. I hacked out this big ugly bush, trimmed down the rhodies, and hit the leaves and sticks with my mulching mower set low to the ground a few times (Put on ya boots and eye protection, my friends- it'll get ugly).

Anyhoo- I planted a few things in there, and bulbs (I think- irises) popped up that I didn't know were even in there. I saw no sign of them for a couple years (at least never noticed). They're doing great- I separated them and planted maybe 120 more bulbs in that garden. Hostas popped up that absolutely showed no sign previously.

I guess the unshredded leaf mulch can be too heavy for some things. Just don't overdo it.

Kimmsr, you can grow tulips in the richest soil in the world, but that doesn't mean they're going to come back (or bloom) year after year. A bigger factor is that tulips originally come from an area where soil is droughty all summer. (that's why they go dormant then). Too much rain in most of N. America.

I've applied as much as a foot of shredded leaves on my hosta for years without a problem. In fact I did just that yesterday!

In soms locales, how much can one expect a layer of leaves to be taken down by worms when temperatures are near the freezing mark. Any self-respecting worm will find the temperature up above downright too cold for his mucousy hide...and will want to find a hole...a deep one.

Since temperature does influence how a thing decomposes, how much can one expect a pile of leaves to compost down between now and when the pile freezes solid.

How many leaves does one expect to be there --piled up on the perennial beds, after any decent fall wind.

AS many do suggest, a clean garden is a disease free garden.

Leaves, as maybe having come down early....for what reason...are now lying on the lawn....and if the lawn has any diseases enshrined in the soil, that is surely now part of the leaves which someone suggests be put over our beds.

A pile of leaves.....how much is a pile...how much should one expect to use in the fall and how much should one pick up.

Leaves around strawberries....never heard that one...straw..yes...straw is very good to mulch strawberries.
Leaves would the last thing I'd want to put around my strawberries.

Leaves belong off the lawn....in the compost pile or in bags for later use as leaf mould.

veilchen, how do you think the tulip growers in the Netherlands get all of those bulbs that are in the stores? We have, down the road a piece, a bulb grower that harvests tons of bulbs every summer for sale in the fall. He each summer after harvest works into the clay he has lots of manure and organic matter and then plants bulbs that will be havested the next summer, sorted and the offsets he gets (too small to sell) will be replanted to grow some more until they are the right size to sell. Some few hybrids will not grow well that way but that is how, in their native regions, tulips spread, producing offsets.
You can visit Veldheers Gardens outside Holland, MI year around and see what happens there.
Jeanie7, maybe some day you will learn, and understand, that leaves belong in the soil, not a dump somewhere. Those leaves are a much better source of organic matter for the soil than the peat moss you prefer and are much cheaper.

My "problem" is a lack of bare soil. My borders are planted fairly intensively, and where there are gaps forget-me-nots have seeded themselves. If I do not mulch over the crowns of perennials, and especially if I try to keep mulch from touching the stems, then I don't see where I can apply the mulch. Any suggestions?

I "mulch" with fallen leaves (OK I just leave the ones that collect in my raised beds) in my perennials. Some do not like it: my drought-tolerant ones like gaillardia die when smothered. My roses like it quite a lot and dislike being naked all winter. The hostas die all the way back and so shouldn't care too much one way or the other.

My tulips, daffodils and hyacinths do OK but I actually pull the leaf mulch back in the spring or the daffs take forever to penetrate the mulch.

I think you shouldn't worry about the crowns of everything, but you do need to think about what doesn't like to be smothered. Then leave those and only those exposed.