Done planting bulbs. Still raking leaves off back lawn. I let the leaves stay where they fall on the perennial/vegetable beds and deal with them in spring. Put a cage around hydrangea and will fill with dry leaves, once the rain stops and I can get dry leaves. I swore I wouldn't grow anything that needed help to get through the winter but this hydrangea didn't bloom due to the last hard winter and I do have time to spend on it.
Still undecided what to do with front gardens. I took out the front lawn and made a mixed shrub/perennial garden. I suppose I should mulch with shredded leaves but afraid the leaves will blow around and not stay put.
Where do you get your garlic for fall planting?

Jerseygirl, the garlic can be ordered online, but I've been buying from an organic grower in north Jersey. I like knowing it's been grown here in NJ, rather than California or the Pacific Northwest, and therefore well-suited to our conditions. I also like supporting local farms/businesses. He'll ship, but this year I drove up to the Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival in Augusta to buy the garlic. 1.5-hour plus drive for me, from Monmouth to Sussex County, but worth it - there were lots of garlic varieties there, NJ wines, NJ honey. Next year will try not to leave it 'til the last minute so I have more time to browse the festival.

You're one zone colder than I am, but I've never winter-protected my hydrangeas and this past winter was the first time in 30+ years I had any damage. 6 shrubs - 5 different varieties - were killed to the ground but have come back nicely and I expect bloom in the coming season. Lady in Red, Limelight, and the climbing hydrangea all came through unscathed and bloomed better than ever this year. If you have the time and resources, winter protection is probably prudent. I just sometimes worry about setting up a perfect scenario for little rodents to come munch on my plants.

We have a lot of oak trees in the neighborhood. I used to use whole leaves, but found they matted down in what I felt was too heavy a layer, so started shredding. Burned out a weed whacker, mower yielded inconsistent results. Best investment ever was a shredder, which reduces the leaves to one tenth their original volume in a fairly consistent texture and makes a nice, light and not too unattractive winter mulch for my beds. Now, all leaves, from lawns and beds are used on site. Once in place, they don't seem to blow around much at all or get washed away by rain/snow melt. I always make sure to fill a large, covered garbage bin with shredded leaves to add to my compost bin for "browns" in the summer, when they can be a bit hard to find.

The leaves are never ending, as some oak trees hang on to their leaves, parsimoniously doling them out throughout the winter months until the daffodils appear. Ahhh....daffodils. But first the hardy snowdrops and hellebores!