THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Saturday marks the start of this years Chelsea Fringe. Here are just a few of the fascinating events you can go and see…
Making Meadows, Strawberry Hill House
Walks, talks and free entry to the garden as a wildflower meadow is planted on the visitor centre roof.
The culinary fantasies of Willy Wonka are explored in this edible garden project, where your home produce will be turned into ice-cream… let’s hope for warm weather and weird flavours!
The Pansy Project, London, Brighton and Bristol
Marking the International day against Homophobia and Transphobia, a single pansy will be placed where hate crimes have been committed. An incredibly moving symbol highlighting support for the LGBT community.
Dry Stone Walling Days in Islington
We met John, who will be teaching the dry stone walling, last night at the Garden Museum… and we can assure you that an afternoon dry stone walling with him will be a fantastic experience. He thinks the physical and mental health benefits are enormous, that everyone should give it a go, and that women are far better at it than men…
This is just a small selection of the many events taking place, please do look up what else is on – from poetry to peepshows, to Bristol to Brighton to Vienna to Ljubljana, to living walls to elm trees – the Chelsea Fringe is a major event now in the gardening year. It would feel wrong without it…
And don’t forget we have our own online project at Modern Mint, a little number titled ‘You Should Have Seen It Last Week…’
Recommended Reading:
On Guerrilla Gardening: A Handbook for Gardening without Boundaries
EBTS Boxwood Growers Forum
Through the European Boxwood and Topiary Society I worked with Chris Poole and Sue Mesher, members of the EBTS board, and we set up a Boxwood Growers Forum. This was to discuss how to make sure this wonderful topiary plant stays in the public conscioussness – we know many growers, suppliers and distributors have stopped selling it as the cost of replacing boxwood that has blight, or is nibbled by the boxwood caterpillar, makes it unviable to offer to clients and gardeners. But Boxwood is a phoenix plant, and there are ways to deal with the problems associated with Buxus. …
Modern Topiarist @ Garden Masterclass Poland
My video on Modern Topiary for Garden Masterclass has been translated into Polish, for the keen gardeners (and happy pruners!) of Garedn Masterclass in Poland. Tickets for the first showing and q and a were available here. But it will become available on the Garden Masterclass Poland website at some point in the near future – so if you are a keen clipper and want to know more, but speak Polish and not English, then I suggest you visit the website and get watching. (Of course, if you don’t speak English, you may not be able to read this…. hmmm… …
Topiary Hotline
The European Boxwood & Topiary Society are to run a Topiary Hotline for keen gardeners and people who love to clip. Date is tomorrow, April 16th 2024, and you can get a ticket for the Zoom meeting here – Topiary Hotline. Run by Chris Poole and myself, we set this up as an antidote to the huge amount of questions we have to answer about topiary throughout the summer. The plus is that their is an excitement around topiary and pruning. The problem is we need to help people in a better way… … so we will be giving people …