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.
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 …
Aesthetic Pruners Association – New Talk In December
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 …
The Amelia Project – Episode 88: Didius Julianus
Friends of mine write a sitcom podcast called The Amelia Project (I wrote about this years ago, when they started it….!) December 2024 I had some fun playing the tiny part of Fornio in episode 88 – Didius Julianus. I have not listened to the episode yet, as I am clearly not an actor… and the thought of listening to my dulcet tones for the few minutes I’m in it just… makes me feel ill. But the recording and being in the studio was great fun, the real actors were hilarious and the script is brilliant – not just funny, …