THE MODERN MINT BLOG
If you want to meet some brilliant people, we recommend you get stuck into reading this list below.
It outlines five of the people Modern Mint have interviewed in the last year and a half about what they do, why they do it and what we can learn from them.
They are brilliant.
“There is a lot written – particularly by the wildlife trusts – about native plants being best. This never made any sense to me as many of the bees are not really native.”
“My brother, Dan, used to be a high-flying bank executive working around the world on credit card fraud and IT systems. I used to be a partner in a successful marketing services group in London.
For different reasons we both decided there was more to life and ‘downshifted’ about 10 years ago. I got an allotment, Dan bought a smallholding in France to live the ‘good life’ and learnt how to keep bees from an ancient French beekeeper!”
3) Earth Friendly Gardener – John Walker
“The only way that the more destructive parts of the ‘gardening industry’ can operate is by creating a false divide, backed up by poor and frequently misleading garden journalism. Why else are so many gardeners still using peat-based composts, when mining peat is a direct cause of the destruction of wild nature?”
“When I first started out I found that pulling a trailer full of tools (and on occasion, with bags of sand and cement) quite hard going – especially the hillier routes I used to take. I was quite fit anyway as at the time I was used to being on my feet all day in the kitchen and trained weekly with a local running club. Even so it took a few months of pulling the trailer around till my legs got used to it.”
“It’s easy to overlook the impact that our gardens (or even window boxes and patio pots) can have to help wildlife (and their own well being). In the UK alone the area our gardens cover combined is more than the combined area of all our national nature reserves.”
We have had a fantastic time interviewing these wonderful folk and we would really love to do some more – we are especially interested in talking with vegan or stock free gardeners – but no matter who you are, if you’re out there and want to teach us or share something, please get in touch!
For now though, please enjoy these brilliant people and what they are doing with their lives…
Start of the Whitby Topiary Library
I have been offered a space here in the centre of Whitby, south-facing aspect, with some raised beds in, so that I can make a Topiary Library. In my head, a topiary library is a place to showcase the common (and then not so common) shapes you can make out of topiary. With classical topiary plants, as well as some more unusual pieces. This Topiary Library can act as a reference for people to learn more about pruning and clipping. The space is small but the aspect is great and the beds are deep enough to put some plants in. …
Delivery After Dark – From the Makers of The Amelia Project
Last week I spent most nights stood in cold water streams on the moors of North Yorkshire, helping to film a new project called Delivery After Dark from the makers of the Amelia Project. I worked on the Amelia Project back at the end of 2024, lending my terrible vocal talents to a small part in the episode Didius Julianus. But this project is something new – and exciting! – and thankfully only needed me to be filmed, rather than to actually say anything. But not only did I have to stand in cold moving water at midnight, I also …
Modern Topiary (The Book) – Message From Lady Clippers, And Others!
My topiary book – Modern Topiary – has recently been put out as a PDF, which can be read for free. (Have a look here to download and read/share it!) Then last week I received a lovely email from Ann Perkowski of Lady Clippers, who are topiary and pruning specialists in New York (Ann is a brilliant pruning teacher too, who teaches at New York Botanical Garden… check out her work and Lady Clippers website.) Hi Darren, I had to write you how much I love reading your Modern Topiary. I’m not sure I’ll ever be quite done with it because I’m …