THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Boxford Gardening Club
Last night Modern Mint visited a wonderful garden club in Suffolk, Oxford Gardening Club.
Darren presented one of his favourite talks – ‘What Do I Do With This Space?’ and sold several items afterwards, including the Modern Mint hand creams and hori hori knives. A hori hori knife is a Japanese trowel, a lethal weapon and an incredibly popular item on our shop – we also sold a few online last night, so are packing those up this morning!
Answers to Questions from Boxford Gardeners
The first question we need to answer is: who is the designer that worked with Piet Oudolf?
The answer is Henk Gerritsen.
Henk Gerritsen designed the gardens at Waltham Place.
Wrote ‘Essay On Gardening’.
Also put together a wonderful ‘plant bible’ of modern perennials, co-written with Piet Oudolf. All Henk’s writings are worth a read!
The second question is about mulching. We recommend Dalefoot Composts. They can be bought locally through Ian Tinton.
Lastly, we were asked: where can we see Darren talk in March?
The answer is at the Quay Theatre, Sudbury on March 12th.
See more about his new talk ‘Green Elements: Cultivating Your Garden In Extraordinary Times’ and get a ticket.
Topiary Teaching For 2026
A new year, so time to share a few thoughts on what I will be looking at doing with topiary, and the focus on teaching I would like to put in place, for 2026 and beyond. Above is Nandina, made by a student of ours from the European Boxwood and Topiary Society. She took a year to work on this, taking a plant not renowned for being a good topiary plant, but seeing what its weirdness is and what values it does have, then exploring and exploding those. I am thrilled by this. Not just this look for autumn. A …
Topiary Workshop 2026 at Waltham Place
The next topiary workshop I will be teaching is now live on the website and can be booked! Just visit Waltham Place to get a ticket for the Topiary Workshop I will be teaching on Friday September 4th at Waltham Place. Myself and Chris Poole of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society (Buxus expert! Like, he knows everything there is to know about the plant! So worth booking just to tap into his knowledge….!) will be teaching here for the… fifth year in a row I think? The garden is a beautiful place to spend time clipping. We will teach …
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 …