"Pati Rock" wrote:

It sounds lazy, but I was wondering if piling leaves upon bulb beds, shrub
beds, etc is beneficial at all or is it necessary to mulch completely?

People who raise fig trees outdoors here in Pennsylvania build a barrier
around their fig trees and fill the barrier with whole leaves to protect
the fig trees during our winters. It works for figs. In the spring
they must remove the leaves, so they compost them then.