I recently moved to BC and into a condo. In my planter was this plant. It is an evergreen shrub, roughly 1 foot high. It has been a little bit overwhelmed by an ivy that is around him. By the way, the whole planter is mostly ivy now, should I reduce the size of the ivy? Is it bad for a Japanese maple tree to be in the same planter as an ivy? The planter is quite big, part of the building, 4’x2’x4’ high. Thank you !!
It appears to be some sort of Hebe, which are flowering shrubs often used in planters because they tend to grow slowly and remain, if not compact, then tidy. They can be somewhat tender in the open — many of the ones I see in my East Van neighbourhood didn’t do well in the freezing temps and ice last winter. But most have really nice flowers. Re the ivy, I’d remove it or at least cut it back. In this area it counts as a non-native invasive species, so if you do remove it, garbage it. Even a tiny piece can regrow. Because of its ability to stick to things, I’d keep it away from the maple.
Thank you! I guess I will have a more precise idea when/if they bloom. It does not seem to suffer from the cold but then again my patio is full South. But It does appear to be suffering from the invasion of the ivy. most of the branches are bare until right at the end where there are leaves.
It does not seem interested in climbing on the maple and the planter has been there for 10 years but I agree that it is considered invasive...
The damage you’re seeing on the shrub is consistent with what I’m seeing on local Hebe. Which is a little odd, because I thought the interior leaves would be more insulated in last year’s cold. But perhaps the ice got in and was held against the branches there. I don’t know if the shrubs take well to pruning back beyond where the leaves are now. You might want to talk to gardeners at UBC or VanDusen, both of which have these species.