Rabbits tend to strip the leaflets off the leaf stems and bite off soft basals. Deer eat whole leaves and soft stems; and reach higher, of course.

Yes rabbits do it. They can really do a number on the plants.
Some people have luck with Liquid Fence. I have not!
The best deterent is a BB or pellet gun but this requires you to position yourself in a hiding place in early morning hours when they feed the most. You'll need to keep it handy for when you spot them during the day.
An outside dog or cat will keep them away also.
They seem to learn quickly if hunted.
If you live in the country, a shotgun or 22 works better.

We know Karl and he is just kidding about the gun -- that's his idea of a joke, though he may deny it.

There are bitter sprays you can apply to the foliage. Home improvement stores and nurseries carry them (Ropel & Re-pel are two brands I've tried).

They do not harm the plants or the bunnies but deter them from taking a second bite.

I have neither bunnies nor deer, but I do get leaves eaten. At one point all the leaves on a 5'x6' bush were gone! And the culprit was...a caterpillar, or more likely, caterpillars. I'm not a specialist on bugs so I can't tell you what type of caterpillar, but they're green and it burns like crazy if they touch your skin. I sprayed an insecticide and they went away (plus I'll cut them in half if I actually see any). Since I just started seeing some eaten leaves today after not having seen any for months, I suspect you may be having a similar problem.

I'm not kidding about shooting the rabbits. I kid about hanging a cat on a shephard's hook to scare critters away but rabbits are another story. Besides there being too many of them they are rodents like mice,rats and voles which no one seems to mind killing.
None of the repelants, including Ropel and Re-pel have worked for me but they've worked on me as the tiniest bit of spray mist that may get in your mouth can give you a bitter taste for quite awhile.
Me, I trap them using cord and alfalfa pellets as bait. I then take them 8 miles away to a wildlife conservation area and release them for the hunters.

Karl, I know you were not kidding! You made me laugh so hard - I love people with a sense of humor :)!
Rabbit repellents did not do much to keep these furry creatures away. I think BB gun is the only thing I haven't tried. Can just imagine myself hiding behind rose bushes in my hunting suit with a rifle. Neighbors already think I am nuts walking in PJs in my back yard every morning checking on plants.

My DH thinks bunnies are cute. That's because he does not plant and nurtures the flowers.

I might have a caterpillar issue as well, since there is an unusual amount of holes on the leaves of numerous plants.

Thank you all for your responses!

Natalie

It was me; I was hungry. Sorry.

Astphard, if the caterpillars are bright green and prickly all over, they're Io moth caterpillars. Nasty creatures. I have the good fortune to live with at least 3 distinct species of stinging caterpillar: Io moth, Buckmoth, and a stubby little half-inch green and brown creature with most of its spines on either end of its body--looks like a horse saddle. I don't know the name of that one. Any of these caterpillars can totally defoliate branches in a few hours, and they seem to start at night where we're not watching. Grrr. I just lost over half the leaves on my new Ingrid bush 3 weeks ago. It's recoverying now. At least the damage is so obvious that it's a red flag to look for the caterpillars and destroy them. If the leaves are all gone but you see some stubs of leaf stems left with unevenly chewed outlines, its likely caterpillars. At least they can't run fast to get away, but they do hide well. Sometimes I wonder if they crawl down in the mulch at times to hide. Don't know for sure.

Thanks, Mike, for the info. Before this year I never knew stinging caterpillars existed. When a student was complaining about sitting near a tree with caterpillars I thought she was crazy, but having been stung, I definitely understand now. By the way, is buckmoth a brown, fuzzy caterpillar? I've seen some of those on my crape myrtles before. And may I say that it's not fun having to spray up into a tree and having to duck out of the way to get any from falling on you. Good luck keeping the caterpillars from your plants.

Anne-Lise

Natalie
My wife thinks bunnies are cute too. Last spring there was a very pregnant one in my live trap. Before I could release it at the wildlife area, she released it in the yard because she felt sorry for it.
Everytime I saw a baby bunny or a damaged rose bush, I told her about it or showed her the damage. I believe she'll let me handle the bunnies now.

Relocation to a wildlife area is a great idea. Animal Control does that with possoms in our neighborhood, taking them to a wild area north of here.

the rabbits are all over here. they did real damage to newly planted roses we tried all the so called remedies to no avail so resorted to rabbit fencing to save them. I now have beautiful roses and have grown to tolerate the fencing.

I think it is Pete:)

If there are no visible pests, and you have ruled out vermin, then take a flash light out at night, and take a look. I once discovered earwigs eating my roses at night and there was no trace during the day. Not sure that they would eat off entire leaves though.

I guess one advantage to living in an urban swamp is the lack of bunnies. I did have a recurring visiting possum all summer one year, though. It would come through my back yard at the same time every evening and get a drink of water from the water bowl I put out for the cats. Our cats spotted it one night sitting in our back doorway; just stared and stared at it. It was completely alien to them. I guess since it didn't smell like cat or dog, they didn't know what to do. It finally just walked away.

Anne-Lise, Buckmoth caterpillars ARE more or less brown. You're right. They otherwise look just like Io moth caterpillars. Both are spiney, NOT fuzzy. There are no fuzzy stinging caterpillars to my knowledge.