A Pest has striped my Hydrangea of its leaves!

[torkkok]

I was out of town for a week and a half. When I got home, I checked all my plants and noticed that my Oakleaf Hydrangea's leaves have been eaten away except for the veins. I have looked the whole plant over and cannot find anything that could have done this. Will it stop it from blossoming next year? Please help!

[rainbowgardener]

Hydrangeas are not real prone to pests, but sometimes slugs like young hydrangeas. They can do lots of damage to leaves. You will never see them in the daytime, but go out late at night with a flashlight and see if you spot any.

If so, type slug control into the Search the Forum feature and find tons that has been written here about them.

[msalcido]

Hi torkkok,
slugs and snails love my hydrangeas. As mentioned slugs are only visible at night. Snails on the other hand can be seen during the day. Just look close at the bottom of the plant.
I use Sluggo Plus organic pesticide. It does the job and is inexpensive. I came home the other night to find a white hairy caterpillar on my Shooting star. It was the only one so I just pulled it off and dispensed of it. Not sure what to use for caterpillars.

Good luck on finding out what it is.

[luis_pr]

This time of the year, it can be several things... slugs, snails, earwigs, japanese beetles, caterpillars, etc. Bagworms were making the rounds one or two months ago and could be the culprit if they are pest in WI too.