Key takeaways
- Cut back hosta, daylily and peony foliage. MSU Extension says removing it reduces disease and insect and slug eggs carried into spring.
- Most perennials can stay uncut over winter, by MSU Extension’s own advice.
- Leave healthy seed heads and hollow stems: birds feed from them and some bees overwinter in them.
- Pull leaves off plant crowns where voles and mice have done damage before.
On this page
Cut these back
MSU Extension singles out plants whose leaves and stems carry problems into spring: hosta, daylily and peony. Removing their leaves, leaf stalks and stems in fall cuts down the disease spores and the insect and slug eggs waiting for next year. The same logic applies to any perennial that had mildew, leaf spot or a pest problem this season: cut it back and bag the debris rather than composting it.
Pull annuals once frost has killed them, and empty spent containers.
Leave these standing
MSU Extension says perennials can go into winter without being cut back at all, and a fall cleanup that leaves some plants up gives the yard winter interest and a haven for birds and pollinators. Seed heads feed finches and other birds through the winter, and University of Missouri Extension notes that hollow stems give some native bees a place to hibernate until spring. Plants commonly left up include coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, ornamental grasses and sedums.
Clear the crowns
Whatever stays standing, do not bury plant crowns under a pile of leaves. MSU Extension suggests clearing leaf litter and mulch from the crowns of plants such as hostas where mice and voles have caused damage, because a deep, wet layer gives them cover through the winter.
Then the beds
Get leaves away from the foundation, where they hold moisture against siding. In perennial beds MSU Extension is relaxed about a light layer of leaves staying over winter; just keep them off plant crowns where rodents have been a problem. Winter mulch on perennial beds goes down after the ground has frozen, not before, so it keeps the soil cold rather than inviting rodents in.
What to do with the trimmings
Healthy stems and leaves can go in a compost pile or out with your yard waste. Diseased foliage, such as mildewed or blighted leaves, should leave the property: bag it in paper yard-waste bags for curbside pickup rather than composting it, because a backyard pile rarely gets hot enough to kill the spores. In Macomb County, yard waste goes out in paper bags or a marked can, never plastic, and most communities stop collecting it between Thanksgiving week and mid-December. See leaf pickup and yard waste rules.
Common fall mistakes
- Cutting everything to the ground out of habit, which removes winter food and shelter for no gain.
- Leaving diseased foliage in place, so the problem starts again in spring.
- Mulching beds too early, before the ground freezes.
- Piling raked leaves on top of perennial crowns and leaving them there all winter.
How a crew handles it
On a fall cleanup the quote should say which approach you want: everything cut back, or diseased foliage only, with healthy stems left for winter. We ask, rather than cutting everything to the ground by default. See our fall cleanup service.
Sources
- MSU Extension: fall perennial care, less is more — remove hosta, daylily and peony foliage to cut disease and pest carryover; leave standing plants for birds and pollinators
- MSU Extension: fall yard and garden cleanup tips
- University of Missouri Extension: leave the leaves — hollow stems shelter overwintering bees
- University of Maryland Extension: how to protect pollinators in the fall (2024)
Written by the Macomb Lawn & Snow Solutions team in Macomb Township, Michigan. We do fall cleanups and lawn work near our routes, and plow and salt homes and businesses across all 26 Macomb County communities, November 15 to April 15. Published October 15, 2026. About us · How we research these guides · How our dispatch works