What's eating my tattoo hosta?

Tattoo Hosta is a compact cultivar with distinctive maple-leaf-patterned yellow markings on green leaves. Its small size and softer tissue make it especially vulnerable to slug damage. Deer and rabbits can browse the entire small clump quickly. Vine weevil grubs threaten the compact root system. Slug control and rabbit deterrents are the top priorities.

Holes through the small leaf blades; a single night's slug activity can devastate the compact clump completely Apply iron phosphate pellets very close to the crown from early spring; set beer traps around the planting; hand-pick regularly — small cultivars need more vigilance than large ones

Entire small clumps removed at ground level; compact hostas are particularly vulnerable as rabbits can consume the whole plant quickly Wire-mesh fencing with buried underground skirt; rabbit repellent granules around the plant; consider growing in a raised bed with mesh lining

Notched leaf margins; root grubs destroy the smaller root mass faster than on large hostas, leading to rapid plant death Apply Steinernema kraussei nematodes to moist soil in late summer; inspect roots when dividing or reporting the compact crown