Knowledgebase

Rose disease and holly bark #868927

Asked May 17, 2024, 3:37 PM EDT

What is causing the leaves on my rose to look like the attached photo? The rose is located in loamy soil and was planted last year. It gets bright light in the early morning and afternoon sun. I have also attached a photo of the bark on the trunk of a 15 year old Dargon Lady Holly. I have no idea what has caused it disruption of the bark. There is no obvious insects on or around the tree and only the bark on the trunk is effected.

Anne Arundel County Maryland

Expert Response

The rose leaf damage is caused by Roseslug Sawfly, a very common insect pest. We see at least two still present in the photo (circled on the attached image), but others might still be hiding out on the leaf undersides. Or, they moved on to mature into adults or were eaten by birds or other predators. The rose will recover without intervention, though you can use the lower-toxicity insecticide options mentioned in the linked page above if needed. A strong blast of plain water from a garden hose is often enough to knock most of them off. While damaged leaves cannot heal, new growth will eventually cover-up the damage and injured leaves might also be shed by the plant eventually, so its appearance will gradually improve.

The holly bark was damaged by a woodpecker called the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Images of the two types of holes pecked into bark (rounded in horizontal rows, and more squared-off patches in vertical rows) can be seen in the gallery on Maryland Biodiversity Project. These birds migrate south from their breeding range in winter and some of them spend the season in our area; they are probably gone by now, having moved back north or to our westernmost counties for nesting. Sometimes heavily-damaged plants suffer dieback, but in other cases they recover or don't exhibit any symptoms. No intervention is needed (or possible) to remedy the situation, though if branches or trunks with lacy bark succumb to dieback, they will need to be cut off / cut down. Hollies generally respond well to pruning, and as long as any areas of removed growth still receive enough sunlight, they can gradually regrow new foliage and branches to hide a bare zone. There is no reliable way to deter the birds from revisiting the plant when they overwinter here next, and sometimes trying to force them to peck elsewhere backfires in that they will choose several trees in the general area to feed on, expanding the range of damage (though in that case it's probably going to be a non-issue since the damage would be more widespread). In addition to hollies, we routinely see damage on maple, pawpaw, deodar and blue atlas cedars, viburnum, and magnolia.

Miri

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