THE MODERN MINT BLOG
I am running a topiary workshop in 2020 with the wonderful topiary artist Charlotte Molesworth at her spectacular topiary garden in Kent.
This is a topiary workshop where you will learn to clip, so be prepared to do some cutting.
We start with a tour of the garden, which Charlotte and her husband Donald have been cultivating for 34 years. It is organic, full of wildlife and has the most extraordinary pruned shapes made from yew and boxwood.
You can see more photos of the garden in an article in the Guardian here:
What Else Will The Topiary Clipping Workshop Offer?
After the tour of the garden Charlotte and I will run you through the ideas you need to know – pruning techniques, the correct tools for the job, how to sharpen your shears and what plants can be used to create the topiary in your garden.
We are also keen to teach you about plant health and how we keep the topiary looking healthy and well, especially in light of the boxwood caterpillar nibbling bushes across the UK. (I’ve discussed the caterpillar in a post here – Dealing with Boxwood Caterpillar.)
“I’m inspired to try some topiary now. You both make it fun as well as interesting and it’s good to know it doesn’t matter if you make mistakes.I’ve started a Christmas list already for some shears!”Previous Workshop Participant
When Is The Topiary Workshop? And Where?
We are running two workshops over a weekend in September – the 26th and 27th September 2020.
Start time is 10am and it will be at Charlotte’s topiary garden in Benenden, Kent. More details about how to find it will be sent to those on the course as we get closer to the date. But you can visit earlier by staying at ‘The Potting Shed’, a barn in Charlotte’s garden.
Go here to see the Potting Shed Holiday Cottage.
The workshop lasts 3 hours, so from 10am-1. Cake and refreshments are provided.
If it rains, we will get wet! So please bring suitable clothing and shoes. If you have a pair of shears or clippers, bring them with you as well.
Do I Need To Learn To Clip On A Topiary Workshop?
Nope, not at all! Go into your garden with secateurs and shears and make some shapes. Practise makes perfect, and we love to see people give pruning a go.
But this learn to clip workshop will be a lot of fun, taught by two experienced teachers and taking place in the most incredible setting. Because the group is smaller and you get two tutors, it also doesn’t matter what level you are at – keenness is the only qualification, as we can adapt the day to help you get the most from the workshop.
“Thank you both for a truly inspiring day in the most wonderful setting, for your generous hospitality, and especially for trusting us with your precious plants! I hope very much to see you both again in the not too distant future!” Jo, Workshop Participant
Spaces are limited on our learn to clip topiary workshop, and it is the only weekend we will be teaching in Charlotte’s garden in 2020, so please do book early to guarantee your spot.
It may also be something you would like to do with a friend, so do share the idea with them!
Book Your Space Now
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 …
Aesthetic Pruners Association – New Talk In December
An organisation I love and have been learning lots from in the last two years is the Aesthetic Pruners Association based in the USA. Sharing knowledge with them about clipping and the overlap – and differences! – in style is something worth exploring, so I recommend a visit to their website and to join onto their events and talks, which are all on Zoom meaning you can access them from anywhere in the world. No excuse not to learn! The next event will be led by Jocelyn Cohen and be about ancient trees in the British Landscape. This is such …
The Amelia Project – Episode 88: Didius Julianus
Friends of mine write a sitcom podcast called The Amelia Project (I wrote about this years ago, when they started it….!) December 2024 I had some fun playing the tiny part of Fornio in episode 88 – Didius Julianus. I have not listened to the episode yet, as I am clearly not an actor… and the thought of listening to my dulcet tones for the few minutes I’m in it just… makes me feel ill. But the recording and being in the studio was great fun, the real actors were hilarious and the script is brilliant – not just funny, …