What's eating my variegated cord grass?

Variegated Cord Grass grows in wet, marginal areas where leaf miners and grasshoppers are the main insect threats. Voles and muskrats burrow into dense clumps and eat rhizomes at the water's edge. Rust fungi can mark the variegated blades. Its tough, spreading rhizomes mean it recovers strongly from most damage. Leaf miners are the most consistent insect pest.

Pale, winding or blotch-shaped tunnels running through the leaf blades; heavily mined leaves turn brown and die back early Remove and destroy badly mined leaves; avoid overhead watering in the evening; insecticidal soap targets adult flies before they lay eggs

Leaf blades chewed from the margins or stripped entirely in dry summer conditions near the wetland edge Apply Nosema locustae bait over surrounding grassland; encourage insectivorous birds; hand-pick in small garden settings

Rhizomes gnawed below water or soil level; circular patches of dead or uprooted grass; burrowing undermines plant stands Set vole bait stations around the planting perimeter; hardware cloth buried around the rhizome zone deters burrowing in garden plantings