HI there,

I tend not to do too much--in my front visible garden, I might trim some things down, but I do it when leaves are crispy. I run my hands down the stem, leaves fall back into the garden, and that way if there is anyone on there, they are in the garden.

Stems get clipped into smaller lengths, and I leave them in piles around the garden or under bushes. They will break down over time and could provide habitat for overwintering insects including bees.

The spring is the same thing--except I try not to disturb things too much--there could be chrysalides or caterpillars or eggs (guess mostly hairstreaks overwinter as eggs).

I might trim stalks, etc; But I try to keep as much of the material in the garden as possible. Even with weeding, I pull some weeds and leave them to compost in place with some weeds I might leave in case there are some babies on them.

For instance, Lamb's Quarters is considered a weed (though we can eat it too), but is listed as a host to some butterflies (can't remember off the top of my head--but maybe Sooty Wing). If there is a lot of little seedlings, I might allow one or two plants to grow and weed others out and place them near the ones I've allowed to grow. Usually the "weeds" are in an area hidden by other foliage.

If your soil is healthy and is filled with lots of microorganisms, the plant material should break down fairly quickly. It's a win-win situation--you are feeding your soil, protecting the microorganisms by giving them cover, and ensuring next year's beneficial insects survive.

All those aphid-eating beneficials overwinter as do our native bees and other pollinators.

Thanks for bringing up this important topic. To me, it is one of the top priorities we should discuss when talking about habitat gardening--we can plant all the nectar and host plants/shrubs/trees we want, but if we just end up disposing of the overwintering insects, we start with a tiny population in the spring.

No wonder we don't see so many butterflies/moths--we throw away the very few that survive all of the other things we send their way (pesticides, invasives, habitat loss/degradation), especially those of us in suburban/urban areas.

Attaching a flyer I made that describes how I clean up my butterfly gardens.