THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Looking for products for our shop is a fascinating job – the important questions are:
What is it made of?
Where has it come from?
How long will it last?
We don’t ask about cost or who is going to buy it – tastes change, so if you believe a product or producer is suitable – why not support them loudly? The world turns and the greatest and most useful products find their places…
When we first saw the Nordeck chair we were stunned – several different lengths of wood, three bits of rope – and that is it. Everything you need for a comfy chair.
Classed as a deckchair, it has a contemporary feel (who wants a deckchair with fabric? Not us, not anymore…) and looks equally at home on your patio in summer, in your conservatory in the winter, or at the end of your garden when friends come over for a glass of wine.
Sitting on a Nordeck chair by the sea is just a wonderful bonus…
It wasn’t just the look we loved though – the wood comes from managed woodland in Finland. This is an important point – in Finland, you can stop illegal logging, while in the rainforests of the world you can’t.
By buying a Nordeck chair you are supporting the use of European wood – birch, pine, oak, alder, larch – and helping to stop the promotion and transportation of exotic woods from the Southern Hemisphere. We have wonderful woods that we can use in our products in Europe, that last a long time with just the minimum care (a little bit of oil from time to time is all the treatment they need.)
It was this that thrilled us and made the offering of Nordeck chairs a must-have on the Modern Mint shop.
We have been at a number of markets this year with the Nordeck chair, and had lots of feedback.
One lady in Cambridge, a yoga teacher for 35 years, tried out the chair and told us it was the perfect position for your body – it sits you straight, the core of the body in line, which in turn helps ease pressure on your back (compare this to the way you twist and turn your spine when sat in the car…)
Another lady told us how easy it was to put together. Of course! It is simple design, for maximum effect!
At Modern Mint we have fallen in love with this chair – it has become our ‘go to’ present for friends as a wedding gift, for birthdays, for ‘moving in to first homes with a garden’ – and we have seen nothing else on the garden furniture market that looks this cool and is such great value.
Allay all of this positivity and class to the fact the Nordeck Chair supports the use of European wood, that it supports a woodland that is growing (they have the space to plant in Finland!) and it makes the Nordeck chair the perfect partner for Modern Mint.
Take a closer look at the Nordeck chair here.
(If you have a product you think would suit Modern Mint, we would love to hear from you. Contact us with details here.)
Michael Gibson, New York Topiary Art!
In the New York Times earlier this year was a lovely interview with Michael Gibson, who makes topiary and gardens in New York. The article is here but you may not have access… however, search the internet, find it and have a read. It is great! His philosophy of pruning is especially worth it… Sacred geometry in topiary? Yes please! What a phrase! I think (and speak) of balance, of major and minor, of leaf volume… but sacred geometry might well make it into my topiary teaching lexicon! And the idea of directional trimming? I realise I do this, but …
Topiary Library
I do a lot of teaching topiary. I had the opportunity from my mentor, Charlotte Molesworth, to work on her garden and experiment and test techniques and generally try making shapes without the worry of failure, or being fired, or being sued and run out of business for getting it wrong. This opportunity was essential (along with Charlotte’s insistance that pruning standards had to be high!) in becoming better at topiary. When I look around the world at our cultural vitamins, what we see in the media day in and day out, I see the stupidest and grossest of people …
Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue
With Chris Poole of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society we visited Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue in Rutland. Do you know it? Amazing place! Chris and I were teaching a topiary workshop in order to give local people the skills and technique, and tenacity! to help with the pruning of the avenue and elevate it to something even more special than it already is. Read more about the workshops here. We hope to run a further workshop in September 2026, as well as teach an advanced course too. Check the teaching page through the year as it will be updated …