Deanna, what happened?! Your poor Ninebark! Was it bugs? Did you take a photo when it had leaves? [g]. I would not even know what to tell you to do with it, aside from keeping it well watered. I'm sure someone else will have a better answer.

Yikes!!

Did this happen recently or earlier in the season (June-ish?) Gypsy moth caterpillars will defoliate plants that like -- completely skeletonized two beautiful dwarf blue spruce I had last year !*#!@*

Because the ninebark is deciduous, it may very well survive -- probably weakened next year but not dead. If you see small leaf buds already (next year's growth), that is a good sign. Just leave it be and see what it does.

It happened very recently, and very quickly. I'm not sure who the culprit is.

I don't know if the Ninebark Leaf Beetle is in Maine. It could be Japanese Beetles. Generally I don't have problems but I am growing 4 o'clocks this year for the first time and the JB just love them. I'm sure they could defoliate a nine bark quickly.

I had 4 plants defoliated almost overnight, and my money is on earwigs having done that. I don't have more than a handful of Japanese Beetles. Earwigs come out at night.

Late in the season an army of wooly bear caterpillars can decimate a plant in a day or two and be gone so I’d suspect caterpillars of some sort.

tj

I've never noticed earwigs to cause any foliar damage to any great degree. So yea, probably some sort of caterpillar or Japanese beetles. Although, the Japanese beetle damage tends be more "hole-y" rather than complete defoliation.

I have had them strip basil in a couple of days and I would never see any insects on the plants during the day. So I went out with a flashlight at night and sure enough, I was filling up soapy cups of water with them for a couple of weeks to get them under control.

Well, I clearly need to go out with a flashlight at night. I had NO idea earwigs could do that kind of damage. Caterpillars, yet, but earwigs are new to me. They're not just hiding around in drains anymore, I guess. Will be on the lookout! I'm happy to share my plants, but this is a bit ridiculous.

Not that it is earwigs Deanna, if you see other critters during the day, that could be it too. You should be able to know with one trip out with the flashlight, but then again, they have to be actively eating your plants somewhere. If they stripped your Lemon Candy already, they've probably moved on. Sorry!