Pacific Coprosmas are extraordinary foliage plants with that rare mixture of presence, dependability and fabulous looks.
Pacific Coprosmas are evergreen, densely foliaged plants which will grow ultimately to a metre. They grow well in full sun through to part shade; they cope very well when water is scare; coastal spray doesn’t bother them; you can clip them, or not; and if you remember to throw them a handful of slow release fertilizer in Spring, fantastic but not essential. In other words they are as low maintenance as you can probably get.
Housekeeping aside, if you take a look at these plants you start to see, not only how lovely they are, but how useful they could be in anyone’s garden. They rock it in pots clipped into classic topiary shapes. Likewise they eclipse a classic buxus clipped hedge. In fact Pacific Coprosmas make great hedges whether they are clipped low to run along a path or left to reach their full metre of height in a series of natural soft mounds. Fans of massed planting will instantly spot the possibility of planting chunky wedges of foliage colour, or if you have a garden bed filled with strappy foliage, imagine a few randomly placed clipped Pacific Coprosma orbs set amongst it all. You get the idea – this is a very useful new plant introduction.
There are two Pacific Coprosmas to check out – Pacific Sunrise with its chocolate brown foliage tipped with hot pink highlights; and Pacific Sunset where the leaf centre is vivid red and the edges are rimmed in chocolate. Seems like the only negative here is that you have to make a choice. Or do you?
Coprosma repens literally means ‘creeping dung-smell’, owing to the unique fragrance of its leaves and creeping growth habit. Native to New Zealand, it’s a low-growing shrub or small tree, with attractive shiny dark green leaves and orange fruit. It’s a popular garden plant, especially in coastal areas, due to its ability to withstand salt spray. Although it can grow to an eventual height of 5m, it’s more often grown as a small shrub, owing to its need for protection in winter. It thrives in well-drained sandy soils.