What's eating my hydrangea 'incrediball'?

Hydrangea 'Incrediball' (arborescens type) is robust and woodland-native, but its enormous flower heads and tender new growth attract Japanese beetles, aphids, and deer. Deer browsing in late spring can remove the season's flowering stems entirely. Rose chafers occasionally target blooms. Slugs damage young basal growth emerging from the ground in early spring.

New stems and flower buds stripped or snapped; regrowth may fail to bloom that season Deer repellent (reapply after rain); temporary fencing in spring; plant in a sheltered walled spot

Leaves skeletonised; large flower heads chewed and discoloured in mid-summer Hand-pick at dusk or early morning into soapy water; neem oil spray on foliage

Sticky honeydew on stems; distorted new leaf tips; sooty mould follows Insecticidal soap or neem oil; hose off colonies; attract parasitic wasps by planting umbellifers nearby

Ragged holes in young basal leaves in spring; silvery slime trails around crowns Iron phosphate slug pellets around emerging crowns; remove leaf litter where slugs shelter