Not sure why the pic did not insert. I went to Photobucket and copied the url :(

Happened to me too. The deer and elk never touched it for over 30 years and now they have eaten on everyone of them. On some Aucubas, eight ft high! It was a mild winter. I can't make any sense out of it. I must be missing something, at least that's what my wife says.
The good parts of this is, I was about to trim a few that were starting to grow out in the driveway. They did it for me! They also seem to be leaving the new growth alone, so that's a good sign.
Mike

Hi Mike.

We had a really bad winter here so that's probably why they ate them. They did used to eat my aucuba in other parts of the yard but left alone the stuff by the house and in the back.

I was planning on moving the aucubas this year anyway but not sure if I want to make an effort if they don't come back. There are buds at the top of the branches but will they get leaves on lower part of the eaten branches?

you dont need nor cant use PBucket here

load them directly from your hard drive.. using the button below the pox you type in ...

of course they will releaf ...

but i dont know if i would move them as they are trying to releaf.. doubling the stresses on the plants ...

you might be best off.. letting them recover this summer.. and planning to move them.. in the proper fall/winter planting time ... depending wherever you are???

ken

IME, aucuba does not readily generate new foliage on bare stems. But it does respond well to hardy pruning, stimulating the growth of new shoots. While I understand your desire not to cut them back, that may be the best method to have them regain a lush, full appearance.

Unfortunately I have to move them this year. I lost and had to cut down a lot of trees and want to push back the grass area and plant some flowers or I will have to spend all summer weeding the empty space. I will take a chance on them and hope for the best. I am in New Jersey.

How far down should/can I cut them?

I used photobucket on kitchen forum previously without a problem. I used the photo button below and now it is sideways :(

I'd cut them back by half and move them as soon as possible. I've moved a lot of them and have found they resent transplanting. They don't die on me, but their growth rate right after moving is considerably slower than if I hadn't moved them.

I prefer to have them fully furnished to the ground, but I had an infestation of Lamium galeobdolon, Yellow Archangel, that I HAD to get rid of. Not only does it spread by runners, but seeds too! For a large garden here, it's a real pain in the neck.

You can see how high they ate the leaves.

Up until now, I had figured that Aucuba would be the perfect filler for the 'wilder' parts of my garden. Likes shade, doesn't require extra water here, and nothing eats it.

Looks like I'm going to have to rethink that last part.

The curved branch below the Aucuba is a branch from a Lawson Cypress. It's a bit odd, but I like some things like that.

Mike

Thanks Mike. I've already moved some of them but did not trim them at all. I'm always afraid to cut stuff too hard.

As Gardengal48 says, they respond well to heavy pruning. Go for it.
Mike

sharpening my pruners today while it is raining and will attack them tomorrow. Thank you Mike and gardengal48.

I went out today to start pruning them and now I'm not sure if there is other problem besides them being eaten by deer. A lot of branches seem to be brown on the outside and when I cut them some of them are completely brown/black on the inside and some are partially brown. Seems to me that they might have some kind of a disease maybe but can not find what it is.

I don't want to waste my time on them if they are possibly beyond saving.

Inside of cut branches

Some aucubas had serious damage from cold this winter. Not sure where you live. Did you tell us?

If you had the same nasty freezing weather this past winter in NJ that we did in SE NY, then the brown/black dieback might likely be from frostbite. Prune it off would be my advice.

Yes, we had a nasty winter. Frostbite make sense as the branches seem to be black on on side and green on the other side. I did prune back most of them to the green looking parts. Hopefully between move and heavy pruning they will survive.

Thank you.