THE MODERN MINT BLOG

May25

Dan Pearson’s Must-Have Plants: Ferns, Grasses & Half-Hardy Perennials

This is the second in our plant inspiration guide from garden designer Dan Pearson… he has been sharing the plants he loves to use, and I think it is a fascinating series and major help when trying to work out what you can add to your garden.

My own love in the garden is topiary, but topiary really works best when planted with and around some of the plants in this blog.

So check them out below and see act you might add to your borders this year!

(Do check out this review of his excellent book ‘Spirit’.)

Ferns

Adiantum venustum

Asplenium scolopendrium

Athyrium ‘Ghost’

Dryopteris wallichiana

Osmunda regalis

Grasses

Briza media

Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’

Miscanthus sinensis ‘Malepartus’

Molinia caerulea subsp. Arundinacea ‘Transparent’

Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’

Stipa barbata

Thamnochortus insignis

Half-hardy Perennials

Dahlia merckii ‘Alba’

Pelargonium tomentosum

Salvia discolor

Read Part 1, part 3, Part 4.

Further Reading:

Natural Selection: A Year In The Garden

Designing With Grasses

Feb10

Why I Wrote The Book Modern Topiary

I have written this book, Modern Topiary, because I wanted a collation of useful information that would give people access to everything they need to know in order to start making topiary. Topiary is an amazing (and niche) line of work to follow – amazing because it offers up opportunities to travel all over the world, making gardens, meeting people… but also, the work is intensely physical, hands-on, yet requires creative thinking in order to solve the puzzle of how to make the shapes you want. This mixture of the craft and the art is what I love the most …

READ MORE

Jan30

Buxus the Norfolk Terrier In Modern Topiary Book

This is Buxus, our Norfolk Terrier, who I acknowledge in the acknowledgments of the book of Modern Topiary. The book of Modern Topiary can be read, for free, here. There you go. Buxus the dog on ‘doorstep duty’ at a friend’s house in Edinburgh. For those asking what he looked like!

Jan30

What People Think Of Modern Topiary, The Book

Yesterday I put out the book – Modern Topiary – that I have spent the last six years writing. Download for free a pdf of Modern Topiary here. And what seems amazing to me, is that not only have people actually been reading it, but then responding to it. So below are a number of comments I have been sent from those who read it last night, and this morning…. “Brilliant read, exactly the right amount of info to take in and digest.” Rachel, a gardener “I love your book, the advice is so straightforward and your writing is so …

READ MORE