What eats the entire leaf but not the stem?

[party_music50]

Hi all --

My 'Dark Star' looked absolutely gorgeous this year -- and apparently also looked very tasty. Some critter has made a couple visits and has eaten every leave on one half of the plant. Nothing but full stems remain on that side of the plant. I'm guessing that a deer eats hostas that way, but really don't know. Is it being eaten by rabbits, woodchucks, or deer? I just think it's odd that none of my hostas have been eaten like this before.

[Linda P]

Audrey, maybe you need a trail cam to catch it in action! I don't know what it would be. It seems like if it was a deer,
it would likely browse the entire top of the plant. I don't have any problem with any of those critters in my garden
so I'm not much help.

Linda P

[whip1]

I'm having the same problem with my hosta. This spring, a ground hog had moved in, and he is getting pretty fat eating just the leaves of my hosta. My pet terrier passed away last fall. I never had critter problems when he was around.

[Marlys]

Deer eat hostas in that manner. They just haven't gotten to the other half yet. Probably saving it for another time. If all the leaves are eaten in that manner the plant will perish. My duaghter lost several hostas in that manner.

We have deer from time-to-time. I spray with Liquid Fence / Deer Off repellant at the first sign of damage or the first hoof print in the garden. It works for me so far. If I think they are still hungry and visiting the garden I spray every 2 weeks or after each 'big' rain. Light rains do not completely wash away the odor. This spring I sprayed once when a saw deer tracks and strawberry plants were eaten and a blood root leaf. They passed up the hostas - thankfully! We have had torential rainfalls. I haven't had to spray except that once / knock on wood. I think the deer have enough to eat in the woods right now.

Neighbors use fishing line fencing that works well for them. Other neighbors use bars of soap haning from trees, old CDs, garlick stake spikes, but also use the Deer Off / Liquid Fence regularly. They live on the very edge of the tree line / timber.

MM

[Phil_and_Gayle]

We have (in the past) had serious issues with deer predation in our Hosta gardens. Living within 150 acres of forest, we are the intruder, not the deer. We have developed a strategy that has resulted in a 99.9% resolution of the problem. Before you get too excited about protecting your own gardens, my method will not be available for most of you. We have seven Beagles. When I let them out together, they travel well beyond our property line running rabbits and deer. However, if we let only one Beagle out at night, that hound is content to just patrol the grounds around the house. The deer soon learn the threat and choose to dine on natural fare, not our Hostas. Rest assured, one guard dog is a far superior remedy than a bar of soap on a string.
Phil

[Marlys]

Yes, dogs would be the great protector especially beagles. I couldn't agree more but there is a county wide leash law and our neighbor's dogs have done great damage in our gardens more than once unfortunately. When I lived in the country 10 miles from town and the closest neighbors were 1/2 mile away our 3 dogs ran free. But here in our housing developement neighborhood, dogs running free are not welcome.

MM

[party_music50]

ok, thanks. I figured it must be a deer but they've never come into the yard to eat anything else before. I can tell from the amount of leaves disappearing that it's come back at least once or twice. I sure hope he doesn't eat the entire thing!

[redcrx]

I have a rabbit that does that. It likes the dark green leaves of Red October. I didn't know what was doing it until one morning a saw it sitting in the front yard with the leaf sticking out of both side of its mouth.