THE MODERN MINT BLOG

Apr23

Gardening Is ‘Not Above Carbon Emissions’

This piece in the Guardian got me thinking a lot – it shows how an orchestra, a country and a town in Devon have been putting the cost of their carbon footprint at the head of their priority list.

Read the article – Carbon Cutters.

Gardening is not above this. From refraining from using peat compost to moving to a decent pair of shears, you can easily reduce your carbon footprint. Perhaps you could even make your own compost, so as to enhance life in your garden all the way down the food chain? (For more on that, you can book my talk ‘A Very British Garden’.)

We have done a few posts on reducing your carbon footprint, but the best thing you can do after starting a compost heap is use a green energy supplier (maybe not the best, but definitely the simplest!)

We use Bulb. They are 100% green, renewable energy. If you sign up, we both get cash bonuses. Take a look and make this simple change today.

Join Bulb & Reduce Your Carbon Footprint.

 

Aug04

Box Hill – Novella by Adam Mars-Jones

I picked this book up back in 2020 because of the title – Box Hill – fabulous, I thought, a book about boxwood. I’ll peruse this for its respective thoughts on the plant I clip most when I make topiary. I didn’t read the blurb on the back. Didn’t know the author (although I knew the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, as I love many of the essays they have published… so trusted the author would be worth spending time with.) By page 2 I realised this novel wasn’t quite what I had expected. I started the book at 10pm, after getting …

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Apr14

Topiary, The Art Garden at The Henderson

The Art Garden at The Henderson in Hong-Kong has now opened to the public. I joined the project last March, to work with Gillespies Landscape Architects on the topiary that had been designed for the Art Garden, which gives a calm, green space below the extraordinary Henderson skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The garden has been designed with butterflies in mind, so lots of nectar plants, and has other art projects and installations within its footprint. The history of the site is interesting too – it was originally the first cricket ground in Hong-Kong! So still a green space….! …

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