THE MODERN MINT BLOG
(No, Christmas is not here yet…) But we thought we would share the best coffee table garden books that we …
Native Trees
Native trees, if you need help deciding what you might like to plant… 1) Native Trees, Evergreen – Box (Buxus Semperivens) Dense wood, good in dry conditions, used for topiary. – Holly (Ilex Aquifolium) Dark green foliage, beautiful bark and trunk. Prize tree in winter. Male to female mix for berries. – Yew (Taxus Baccata) Topiary, trim once in August, thick hedge, grows faster than you think. – Juniper (Juniperus Communis) Dry and eat the berries, smell good or bad depending on your taste, slow growing. – Scots Pine (Pinus Sylvestris) Conical, red bark, needle leaves. 2) Native Trees, Deciduous …
Spirit: Dan Pearson
Why Should You Buy Spirit: Garden Inspiration By Dan Pearson? Because it is by Dan Pearson, who designs beautiful gardens and also writes so eloquently about plants… “I like the idea of planting for longevity and find myself increasingly drawn to the idea of planting for the future. A tree will map decades if not centuries in its branches…” We cannot help but fall for the turn of phrase ‘map decades if not centuries in its branches’… and feel an excitement bubble inside us at the thought of joining him in planting for the future too… (Update March 2020: And now we have! …
Growing Fruit
Growing fruit is ideal when you want your own produce. It is low maintenance, tastes great and because you are growing it yourself you can choose varieties you just won’t get in the shops. The best place to start is to read Joan Morgan’s Fruit Forum. We only recently discovered it when we saw a blog post asking ‘Where Have All The English Cherries Gone?’ after buying the tastiest, freshest cherries we have ever eaten and wanting to know more about British fruit. (Essex, where we now run our garden design studio from, was always a big fruit producing county and apparently …