Woody the woodchuck? That's who gets mine and my morning glorys

Anne

Deer consider Hosta as gourmet dining!

fred

Got sheep? Second only to deer for 'mowing' 'em down! They just haven't found the ones out back yet. Bunnies only eat a nibble here and there unless there's nothing else to eat.

Thank you all for the input....DH has been watching all evening but nothing yet!

We do see a lot of deer as we are located in a rural area, just don't know why they never bothered them before.

Will the plants continue to grow or am I going to have to dig them up?

This has been a busy several days as I am still trying to find the snake in the pond.....well it keeps be out of trouble.

If you have deer eating your hosta all you will ever have is stubby stalks. They love hosta. Apparently they never found your patch before.

i saw on "gardening by the yard" this last weekend an episode about squirels munching on one of his tree's bark. he mixed up a bowl of water and cajun spices and made a paste to apply to the bark. don't know about spreading it on hosta leaves but you might put a little on the underside of a couple leaves and see if they like it spicy! not sure if will do any damage to leaves. hosta seem quite hardy though. maybe a sacrifice of a couple leaves to save the rest might be handy. good luck to you.

Oh I just hate that! Luckily my hosta have been safe from the deer this year... they prefer rose buds. :(

Could be deer OR slugs. They love Hosta.

Definitely sounds like deer 'cause unless your slugs are the size of bunnies, they're not going to strip a full grown hosta over one night...the hostas will be back next year 'cause they're tough plants, but they won't put out more leaves this year. A double-whammy spray that both stinks and tastes awful will keep them at bay (and ward off bunnies, too). I use Deer Off or Liquid Fence, but you can make your own out of eggs, hot sauce, garlic juice and water -- use a sprinkler can to apply.

A spray I use (for Woody) is hot sauce, water, a few drops of dish detergent and garlic juice (if you don't have garlic juice, put the water and garlic in the blender [but not the soap, trust me on this one :-)] puree the garlic then strain through cheesecloth, then add the hot sauce and detergent). Spray away... the critters usually take a few nibbles then leave the plants alone. I have found that after a couple of weeks I don't need to spray again.

I don't measure, but let's see, I'll estimate: 1 cup water, 1 TBL hot sauce, 1/4 tsp garlic juice (or 2 cloves garlic) and 5 or 6 drops of detergent. Keep it in a spray bottle.

Anne

I had more than thirty overgrown Hostas lining the planting beds outside my greenhouse. There were many more in other areas. The deer started at one end or the row and ate three of them each night. By the time they reached the end of the row the first ones had grown out again so they started over. I finally doused the plants with hotsauce. I heard the snorts and the pounding steps of the deer on their way to the river. The real problem was that each time they devoured a plant it doubled in size and I had to divide them. I wound up giving away many dozens and planted the courthouse beds with them before I used the hot sauce. It started over two or three years later. Sandy

Great tips!!!! Thank you all. I will be mixing up this animal beverage tomorrow.

RM