THE MODERN MINT BLOG
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 an interesting topic and should lead to some new avenues to explore, some inspiration to take, when it comes to shaping plants – how would a pruner try to capture the ‘feel’ of an ancient tree and its shape, a shape made by the elements and other factors – with a younger plant?
How does ecology and history shape a tree?
Get your tickets at the Aesthetic Pruners Association now.
Below – my attempt at Aesthetic Pruning…. second year, beech… now known as the Seven Sisters!
Why I Wrote The Book Modern Topiary
I have written this book, Modern Topiary, because I wanted a collation of useful information that would give people access to everything they need to know in order to start making topiary. Topiary is an amazing (and niche) line of work to follow – amazing because it offers up opportunities to travel all over the world, making gardens, meeting people… but also, the work is intensely physical, hands-on, yet requires creative thinking in order to solve the puzzle of how to make the shapes you want. This mixture of the craft and the art is what I love the most …
Buxus the Norfolk Terrier In Modern Topiary Book
This is Buxus, our Norfolk Terrier, who I acknowledge in the acknowledgments of the book of Modern Topiary. The book of Modern Topiary can be read, for free, here. There you go. Buxus the dog on ‘doorstep duty’ at a friend’s house in Edinburgh. For those asking what he looked like!
What People Think Of Modern Topiary, The Book
Yesterday I put out the book – Modern Topiary – that I have spent the last six years writing. Download for free a pdf of Modern Topiary here. And what seems amazing to me, is that not only have people actually been reading it, but then responding to it. So below are a number of comments I have been sent from those who read it last night, and this morning…. “Brilliant read, exactly the right amount of info to take in and digest.” Rachel, a gardener “I love your book, the advice is so straightforward and your writing is so …