THE MODERN MINT BLOG

Nov17

Bird Feeder

Bird Feeder

 

Heartened and cheered to discover the British public love to help the birds!

We discovered these bird feeders recently and thought – you know what, we need to give these a go. They are remanufactured from black plastic plant pots, the ones you get in every single damn nursery, shop, hardware store and garden centre going… the same ones that cannot be recycled.

You only have two options with where to get rid of them when you have removed your plant from the pot – either reuse the pot until it breaks, or send it to be crushed up for landfill.

Which is why these bird feeders are so amazing – they take these pots that would normally go to landfill and turn them into something useful!

And because they are plastic they are robust enough to cope with a British winter. And they look great. What more do you need?

As we said, we thought – let’s give these a go and see if anyone else thinks they are brilliant. The feedback we have received has been magnificent – we sold out in the second week!

We now have a few more in stock but they are going fast so please please please you wonderful British public who are so keen to help wildlife – get your recycled bird feeders right now, or you may miss out.

The picture we have shows the birds eating an apple – we prefer raspberries threaded onto the metal spike, and we think the birds probably do as well…

If you need more ideas about what to feed the birds, we also have this fabulous bird cake kit to show you…

Bird cake kit

Basically, you get this bird feeder (the picture shows you the blue one, but we also offer a red bird feeder) that is also recycled – from yoghurt pots!

Then with it comes the bird cake ingredients and the recipe instructions, plus a few more hints and tips about what to feed the birds in your garden. Educating you, getting hands on making a cake for birds (Mary Berry style?) and then doing something to encourage wildlife into your garden and keep it coming back for more… what a fantastic product.

All of that PLUS what we mentioned at the start – it keep plastic out of landfill – right on!

bird cake kit red

Do you bit for wildlife and get a bird feeder or bird cake kit this Autumn, or as a present for someone this Christmas – with these, we can all enjoy doing our bit…

Jan28

Monty Don British Gardens Episode 4

I hadn’t seen the new Monty Don series ‘Monty Don’s British Gardens’ but I was sent a message one evening to say stick it on – episode 4 especially! On the episode were three gardens I make and clip the topiary in… the photo above is my quizzical boxwood emu… which looks ridiculous out of context of the wider topiary garden it sits in… but hey! Showcases what you can do with boxwood, when given enough time to let it grow! But also on the episode were Waltham Place, one of my favourite gardens and a place I teach topiary …

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Nov01

Topiary Art In Hong Kong, The Henderson

Here are a couple of photos of the topiary work I have been doing in Hong Kong for the Art Garden at the bottom of the brand new skyscraper, The Henderson. The building has been designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and this November 2024 the garden at the base of the structure will be planted up, with lots of topiary originally designed by Gillespies Landscape Architects, grown by Tarzan Nursery in China, and then clipped and refined into shape by…. me. Will update with photos from The Henderson Art Garden when all is completed and the garden is opened, but …

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Apr16

EBTS Boxwood Growers Forum

Through the European Boxwood and Topiary Society I worked with Chris Poole and Sue Mesher, members of the EBTS board, and we set up a Boxwood Growers Forum. This was to discuss how to make sure this wonderful topiary plant stays in the public conscioussness – we know many growers, suppliers and distributors have stopped selling it as the cost of replacing boxwood that has blight, or is nibbled by the boxwood caterpillar, makes it unviable to offer to clients and gardeners. But Boxwood is a phoenix plant, and there are ways to deal with the problems associated with Buxus. …

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