i had one that stumped me for years.. someone finally walked thru.. and said it was cat .. go figure on that.. its finer than yours .. i have had a couple buck rubs.. it bigger than your damage a south facing could be a form of winter sunscald .. that side of the tree thaws in mid winter. and a scar develops ... if they were larger transplants .. it very well could be nursery damage.. either at field digging.. shipping. transporting to your house... etc.. i swear.. it can take a year or two for the injury to actually 'show' ... could be kids .. but we are talking baseball bat attacks ... all over the yard.. it would have to be a real hoodlum to go at them like this.. nothing younger than a teenager ... possible??? the deep scratching could have been raccoon ... or you.. lol .. you know.. when it all boil down.. trees heal themselves.. its called compartmentalization ... the borers are the only issue .. grubs are not a tree thingee ... others can talk about that .. but basically.. solve that ... and then quit picking at them .... and leave them alone.. an do their own thing.. i have had dozens.. if not a hundred ... of these mysteries over the years.. its a good topic to waste some beer on.. but you are never going to get a definitive answer.. IMHO ... a they say.. stuff happens ... life aint no disney movie ... ken

What I didn't come back and report, is that after I drowned that poor girl, that very afternoon I was walking through the garden and lo! (like that? Lo!) There was a lady dressed in red. A bag work on my JM 'Fireglow' had an all red bag and was industriously moving up and down the branch. I was so sad to clip the branch and drown her, too. Then a few days later I was talking with my neighbor, who told me he'd had bag worms all over the place and was plucking them off, squishing their bags, and putting them into the garbage. He said they were everywhere. He's down wind of me, so perhaps that's why I've only found two so far. I was just glad this somewhat nutty man just didn't throw them into his compost pile, or the eggs would have had a field day. So sad. I really didn't think we had them here, since there isn't any info or advisory on any MD agg sites. Well, I've got enough pests to deal with. Those Japanese moth web bags are showing up now. Just out of reach for me, unfortunately.

can you post a picture?

Yes...skeletonized is a good description. I also see some tiny tiny black gunk (droppings?) on the leaves. Haven't really seen anything flying around, but who knows. These plants are too young to flower, but I did give them some fertilizer once to help root development. Don't remember what that fertilizer was. These plants do have lots of growth down low so I could just top them which would eliminate the affected leaves but the pest would possibly still be present, no? Anyways, I'm thinking whatever this pest is, might horticultural oil or insecticidal soap eliminate a wide spectrum of possible bad guys? Are these products okay to use on salvias? Appreciate your replies.