THE MODERN MINT BLOG

Feb22

Guanock House – Trainee Topiary Artist Needed

Guanock House needs a trainee topiary artist!

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Some of you may know it as the first home and garden of designer Arne Maynard, but is now owned and maintained by Michael Coleman and his wife Michelle. They offer meditation workshops and retreats there and it is as beautiful a house and garden as you could wish to visit.

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They called me in last Autumn to help shape up some of the topiary as it was all getting out of hand, but what it really needs is someone with a steady hand and lots of patience to take over the clipping in the summer.

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Guanock House Trainee Needed

Michael is looking for a local person who is diligent, is able to tackle the strenuous nature of the work and has an aesthetic sense for shaping plants that will be in tune with the garden.

The work is on a project by project basis to begin with, possibly moving to something more regular in the future.

Pay in line with experience. Training will be given as well, possibly by myself to make sure you have all the know-how you need.

What I will stress is that the work is great fun (as tough as it can be physically) and that this is a fantastic opportunity to make a start in your gardening and pruning career. There is a variety of plants to turn your hand too and get experience working with, as well as a mix of formal and organic shapes.

It is a perfect first job for an aspiring topiary artist!

Please do visit the Guanock House website and let Michael know you are interested, and to find out more –

Contact Guanock House here.

Or view my topiary work.

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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