| What can I do to prevent whoever or whatever is eating holes in my hosta plant. I have seen a tiny animal resembling a baby squirrel (has stripe up its back). Could this be the problem? |
| The animal you describe is probably a chipmunk, and I would not expect one of those to bother your hosta foliage. Holes in the leaves can be caused by a number of things, but the most common are slugs (you will see slime trails, slugs work at night), hail damage, and freeze damage that occurred back when the leaves were first opening. You can work to control slugs by catching them and drowning them in soapy water, encircling the plants with a band of diatomaceous earth, trapping them with beer traps, or poisoning them with commercial baits used according to the label instructions. Toads, snakes and a few other predators can also help. Weather damage is hard to avoid, unfortunately, unless you physically protect the plants. |
