THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Need a talk for your garden club? Via Zoom because of Covid-restrictions this winter?
Then I can help!
It is great you are trying to keep your club going, and though Zoom is not the same as getting a group together and talking about gardening live, of the moment, right now it is the best alternative we have got.
How I Do A Zoom Talk For Your Garden Club
I’m very happy to do Zoom talks and have moved about 20% online so far (from end of March 2020 to the start of October 2020) – although that number is growing in the last few weeks!
I did a talk on Thursday night for a group, who were using Zoom for their garden club for the first time… it felt a big step, and the committee had understandable nerves about if it would work… but we ended up having a great time…
Click here for their reaction.
Just so you know more about how a Zoom talk would work, I can:
- Set up the meeting and send you the link to login the day before we start. You then circulate this amongst members who are attending.
- Cost is £75.
- Talks tend to be 45-55 minutes, with a following q and a. I try to use the benefits of Zoom rather than just copy a normal talk – so screen sharing, polling, reactions and discussion are all thrown into the mix.
- At the start I go through how it all works so anyone new to Zoom can get a feel for it too – but so far all Zoom talks I’ve done have been great fun.
If you feel you need a little more help beforehand, I am happy to book a 15 minute practise with a few members or your committee, for an additional £15.
This can be done anytime before the talk, to go through how it will all work, get a feel for polling and reactions etc… and anwer any questions you may have. This may well be useful for you in helping to make sure your group has a fantastic experience and wants to continue.
The 5 talks I have so far adapted for Zoom are:
A Very British Garden – about compost making, dealing with slugs, great plants for your borders and no-dig vegetable growing.
Clippings – about how to prune, roses, wisteria, fruit trees, shrubs and topiary.
Helping The Honeybee – about the best plants for bees.
What Do I Do With This Space – sharing good ideas for your garden about reducing maintenance, stopping plants being eaten and choosing native species.
Diluted – how we use water in the garden, wisely and… not so!
I have more talks planned on further topics when the topiary season finishes for me, and time becomes a little freer…
Any questions do please contact me. But I hope this helps and that we get to meet in person one day, but certainly via Zoom at your garden club if that continues to be impossible for the near future!
Contact Darren Now.
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 …