why would you clip to the lowest leaf? Roses store their carbohydrates in their canes. If you cut off cane you are cutting off stored energy. They can grow their foliage back rather quickly. Just keep the rats with antlers away.

I would only trim the end of the cane off if it looked ragged or torn. Otherwise, just keep watering and leave them alone and they'll leaf back out. No need to cut back to where the leaves were left un-eaten; that would be a waste of the rose's growth which the roots may not be well enough developed to easily replace since you say these are in their first year in the ground.
Sorry this happened to your roses. They'll recover - if you can keep Bambi away. Good luck!

Yes, please do not cut off any leaves - the rose needs all that are left! When my roses are that small I put wire cages around them to protect them - until they get big enough that some grazing will not seriously damage them.

Jackie

Farmers use electric fences to keep the cows in without any cows or people being killed. All they get is a quick shock. Sooo, price out what it would cost you to enclose your roses with one and sleep assured that the 4 legged slug defoliation will come to a screeching halt. A timer set for night time should work.

Thanks for the advice all. Sorry I totally mis typed, I meant clip the canes to the highest leaf, only removing the totally defoliated parts. I just reread my post and can see the confusion. For some reason I figured the totally stripped canes above the leaves might be hinderance to the plant.

Unfortunately, I was in the process of extending my fence to 10' when this happened. Usually the deer do not come in my yard because of my dogs but at night are in the house....till now! They have been put on guard duty at night and sleep on the deck until the fence is finished.

Thanks again.

SCG

I still would leave the canes. Leaves will often sprout from the leaf axils on the bare stems. If they do your roses are just that much farther ahead. If they do not, after a reasonable time, you can cut them back then. However if the ends of the stems are ragged, I would trim them up to a clean cut.

Cath

Thanks Cath, I wasn't sure the bare canes wouldn't be taxing the roots since there was no leaves to support them. I did trim the chewed ends, gave me a reason to get the Felco's I wanted :).

Thanks all...

SCG