THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Boxford Gardening Club
Last night Modern Mint visited a wonderful garden club in Suffolk, Oxford Gardening Club.
Darren presented one of his favourite talks – ‘What Do I Do With This Space?’ and sold several items afterwards, including the Modern Mint hand creams and hori hori knives. A hori hori knife is a Japanese trowel, a lethal weapon and an incredibly popular item on our shop – we also sold a few online last night, so are packing those up this morning!
Answers to Questions from Boxford Gardeners
The first question we need to answer is: who is the designer that worked with Piet Oudolf?
The answer is Henk Gerritsen.
Henk Gerritsen designed the gardens at Waltham Place.
Wrote ‘Essay On Gardening’.
Also put together a wonderful ‘plant bible’ of modern perennials, co-written with Piet Oudolf. All Henk’s writings are worth a read!
The second question is about mulching. We recommend Dalefoot Composts. They can be bought locally through Ian Tinton.
Lastly, we were asked: where can we see Darren talk in March?
The answer is at the Quay Theatre, Sudbury on March 12th.
See more about his new talk ‘Green Elements: Cultivating Your Garden In Extraordinary Times’ and get a ticket.
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 …