We’ve certainly lost a few houseplants on our watch over the last 4 1/2 years and we even replaced a couple (if we found the exact plant). I generally clean up and tend to the dead stuff in addition to watering.
I find it is such a difficult one taking over the care of indoor plants as for some owners they seem unimportant when we ask “are there any indoor plants” and for others they are an integral part of the care on the sit. I often assess this first from the listing… if plants are mentioned I generally know this is something that will need some more indepth discussion, and that would include the watering, removal of dead leaves, feeding etc. We used to take pix of plants on arrival but I have to admit I haven’t done that recently, but have only encountered a few indoor plants on our latest sits.
We did a 5 week sit over Christmas/New Year and the owners had kindly put a small Xmas tree in an alcove window. When we removed the decorations for them I was horrified to find a cactus display in a glass bowl behind with several dried and shriveled cacti looking very dead. Over the week I bought and carefully replaced them bringing new life to the display. Over dinner on their return I confessed to my neglect, to be met with laughs … “Oh they were dead when we left … I just hadn’t got round to removing!”.
Back to your question, I think whether to tidy up someone else’s plants is hard to second guess after they’ve left, and as with so many situations like this we learn from each experience. Another time in a similar situation this experience will probably prompt you to ask the owners if they want anything beyond watering. It’s always disheartening to have negative feedback, but generally we find it’s the pets that are foremost in our owners minds, and your many reviews are testament to that skillset 
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My current sit has a few houseplants - which are fine. But there are about a dozen vegetable seed pots in the laundry room that I’ve been misting daily - some are doing well, some still haven’t sprouted and 1 or 2 seem to have given up. There are some seed packets around so I may just drop some new seeds into the pots.
And let the HO know I’ve done that!
It’s great to see all the different interests we each have. I am wholeheartedly a plant person, indoor and outdoor, decorative or veg/herb/fruit. It allows me to increase my knowledge, experience and do something I enjoy.
When I arrive, I ask lots of questions and make notes, sometimes on my phone as we do a walk through. If I arrive earlier than their departure, I join in on the daily upkeep and continue to ask questions. Some people are “naturalist” that prefer the plants to grow and just be in their natural state aka no trimming while others are more particular so no matter what previous experience or knowledge, ask what they prefer and do it that way.
I would remove old leaves and dropped ones. I’ve started taking photos of each plant when I get there so that, for myself, I can tell whether they are declining or thriving or whether they had bugs or fungus when I got to them. If they do have a disease I notify the HO and they usually say don’t worry about it, or give me instructions to make them healthy. If they look stressed from too much light or not enough I’ll move them to another place.
On my next sit the instructions from one homeowner is to just water the indoor plants once a week, but she then mentioned that her husband takes care of the plants. I’m going to walk through each plant with the husband and find out all the details. I’m thinking of notes on an index card for each. There’s an orchid!
Well said Vanessa - I will definitely take photos the next time around when there are a lot of plants involved.
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Orchid are very hard to maintain. We’ve had one for three years and each time we repotted it all the blooms fell off but it’s now blooming again. They love to be in a South facing window.
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I take care of a HO’s houseplants as though they were my own. I water as needed, turn them and remove dead leaves whether I’m asked to or not. Nobody wants their plants to wither or die. And if it’s not too big of a job, I also do some weeding outdoors, if necessary.