:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2180896553-8a3c20e6ac7140988156be85ed2c4e46.jpg?ssl=1 "Should You Pull Dead Plants From Your Garden or Leave Them Alone? We Asked a Pro Gardener")
Key Takeaways
- Removing pest- and disease-ridden plants can keep problems from overwintering and recurring next spring.
- Composting diseased plants may allow plant problems to spread.
- For safe disposal, always burn diseased matter, or bag it and throw it in the trash.
Although it may be easier to leave the stems and leaves from old veggies, herbs, and flowers in place until spring, removing old plant debris from your garden before winter can help you avoid potential gardening headaches and keep your plants healthier in the long run.
In this guide, a horticulturist shares why it’s wise to clean out flower and vegetable gardens in autumn, and provide expert tips on how to properly dispose of all those old plant bits you don’t want lying around.
Meet the Expert
Edward Olsen is the consumer horticulture specialist and extension master gardener director at the University of Vermont.
Why You Should Always Pull Dead Plants
The Spruce / Marisa Kikis
Leaving autumn leaves in your flower beds through winter can help to protect plant roots from cold and provide a safe hibernation spot for pollinators, like moths and beetles.
However, it’s often a good idea to remove the leftover stems and leaves from flowers and edibles when your plants naturally die back. This is especially important if your plants were plagued by pests or disease during the growing season.
“Gardeners should remove dead plant materials from their gardens to eliminate pest problems—whether caused by insects or disease,” says horticulturist Edward Olsen. “Leaving this material in the garden may lead to the spread of pests and diseases to previously unaffected plants.”
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How to Remove Dead Plants
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
If plant stems are dead and easy to pull away from the plant you can remove them from your garden without pause.
However, if you need to use pruners to get stems to budge, take the time to research the pruning needs of the plants you’re working with. Some plants leaf out and bloom again on old wood and should not be pruned late in the season, while other plants produce entirely new growth in spring and can be cut back to a few inches above the soil line before winter.
How to Dispose of Dead Plants the Right Way
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Debris from dead plants can usually be thrown into your compost pile to provide nitrogen and carbon to your compost heap. However, if your plants were diseased or troubled by pests, composting is not recommended.
Unless you get your compost pile super-hot, there’s a good chance that diseases and pests will survive the composting process and potentially infect any plants you apply that compost to in spring.
“Any diseased or insect infested plant material should be bagged and disposed of in your regular trash,” Olsen says.
Alternatively, diseased garden debris can also be burned in your firepit or burn barrel to help ensure pests and diseases don’t spread. Just remember to follow proper fire safety procedures when burning and don’t burn material from plants like poison ivy, which can cause lung irrigation.
4 Other Things You Should Immediately Remove From Your Garden
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After removing dead and diseased plant debris from your garden, you may want to take the time to clean out your flower and veggie beds in other ways. Here are a few more things that you should remove from your garden beds before winter to boost the health and growth of your plants in the long run:
- Damaged plant stems. Small tears on plant stems and branches can turn into much larger breaks during winter. To avoid this, prune damaged and broken stems off your plants in fall using clean, sharp pruning cuts.
- Weeds. Removing weeds before they drop their seeds will significantly reduce weedy problems and make spring weeding much easier.
- Overripe fruit and windfalls. Old fruit can harbor pests and disease, or attract unwanted animals to your garden. If you want to keep pests at bay, remember to rake up this debris and throw it in your trash or compost bin.
- Debris and clutter. At the end of the season, take the time to clean up bird netting, garden twine, and damaged row covers, which can pose a tangle hazard for wildlife. It’s also good practice to collect old plant labels, stakes and cages, and other easily moveable items and disinfect or toss them so they don’t spread plant diseases to next year’s garden.