"Stripping" brugs for winterizing?

Hi all,
I have 3 brugs I'm about to bring into the basement for winter. How do you strip off the leaves? Do you just pluck and snap them off or do you use a pruner and cut them off? OR do you just stick them in the basement and let the leaves fall off naturally?
I plan on covering the soil with an inch or so of sand in order to prevent those nasty little gnats that drove me crazy last year. Any other suggestions on keeping the gnats down? I bought some of the sticky yellow tape but so far that only works occassionally.
Thanks.
Lora

Lora, I use 3% Hydrogen Peroxide mixed in with (regular tap) water to keep the fungus gnats from taking over.

http://www.h2o2oxytech.com/h2o2-uses.htm

Any ?'s LMK!

Jan

Hello Lora.

I use a scissors or pruner to remove most of the leaves. They are going to fall off anyway, and they just increase the chances of bringing in bugs.

Erick

Thanks for the replies!