Looks like deer damage but we have large rabbits that also have enormous appetites. The deer spray should have worked. it's way too early in the season to have to alternate sprays. After a month or so we alternate products for deer control since ours get used to one scent and then start nibbling away but it's only early May. The raccoons in our area stick to birdseed which falls under birdfeeders and the possum liked the tea leaves which usually had dry fruit and stuff mixed in with them. Was this the only hosta eaten or did they snack on other plants?

Thanks, all of my Patriot hostas and one of my Earth Angels were eaten. Taking stock of my shrubs just now, I noticed my snowball viburnum is missing a few snowballs, so it must be the deer since the shrubs are too tall for rabbits. I’m bummed, as I really relied on Liquid Fence the past few years to keep the deer away from my pretties. Any suggestions? I tried Bounce dryer sheets and also Irish Spring soap in the past, which were recommended by a colleague, but neither worked, and I ultimately discovered Liquid Fence a few years ago, which, until now, has worked wonders. Ugh!

they will be fine ...in a month or 2.. just snip out a few of the ugliest leaves ...

ken

omg looks like you had a herd of deer not just 5 or 6 which i get when I don't spray!

I really empathize! I have had that same damage from deer. I have herds of the nasty eating machines and now spray every 2 weeks with Bobbex. I does seem strange that they were eaten right after you sprayed. Yes, they will recover but it is still a sad, sad sight.

Any hoof prints? .Maybe a Woodchuck?

Came home to see the new caladiums I bought were gnawed on by deer. Got to spraying immediately! There's lots of vegetation now but I think they always go for the tastiest and most expensive morsels!

Sorry to hear that Miles10612! As Peren.all said above, deer are nasty eating machines!! (Although I do love seeing the new fawns every year.) I ordered some Bobbex, and also purchased some Repels-All from Home Depot, in addition to the Liquid Fence that has previously always worked for me. I also ordered some cages that I can place over each of my hostas as the shoots start to poke through…not going to have this happen again next year!

Miles, sorry to hear that. Yes, critters always pick the most expensive or difficult to replace.

Even with bird netting on all my shrubs, 2 holly bushes I have had for 15 years are now almost totally bare. My favorite rhododendron has only 1 bud. grrrrrr.

Picture is last year, but this year it will only have 1 flower!

I've been spraying with Liquid Fence I bought last year and so far so good. That plus the dogs, plus blood meal plus milorganite, so who knows which one is working. Did you buy the Liquid Fence this year? Maybe they had a bad batch. Oddly enough, they did nibble on some Clematis but that just makes them come back thicker. Thicker? is that the right word? denser? more full?

Pandora, I had no idea deer liked rhododendron! I have a pair near my front door that I’ve never sprayed and they’ve always been left alone - maybe too close to my house for the deer to venture? Regardless, they’re getting sprayed today. Your rhododendron is beautiful, hopefully next year it’ll be able to put on its show again, how frustrating!

Steve, my Liquid Fence is leftover from last year also, and it worked then, which is why I can’t understand why it’s not working now. But, the Repels-All from Home Depot seems to be doing the trick, so for now I’m using that.

Does it expire? I better finish mine up and get a new batch.

Rhododendron is poisonous to deer. One can only hope.

We alternate sprays, sometimes Liquid Fence, sometimes I Must Garden Spice Scented Deer Repellent. We have both daylilies and hostas. Deer love daylily buds more than they love hostas. When the daylily buds form we spray at least twice a week since you can't miss a bud or else it may be gone. We have found that after a month or so we have to switch sprays. We buy both in the concentrate. One more thing, we have never found a large sprayer that doesn't clog up with deer repellent. I've ordered them from A M Leonard and elsewhere and haven't found a large one that works well with the repellent. We haven't noticed any issue with storing them over winter. We've had deer eat rhododendron leaves. They will eat just about anything that isn't prickly--this past winter they were munching on a large taxus capitata.

Good to know about the winter storage. I wasn't really doubting it since it seems to be working for me.

So, the deer munching actually saved you from pruning.