THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Our Chelsea Fringe project ‘You Should Have Seen It Last Week…’ is now finished and up on the website, where you can see all the pictures taken by our brilliant collaborators… collaborators who hailed from all corners of the globe.
Their efforts were brilliant and the body of work fascinating – when flicking through the photos you get this record of nature in fast forward – it not only provokes comment (‘hey look, the colour of the sea today!’) but makes you question how worthy a plant may be (‘that peony took nearly three weeks to flower, then finished in two days…’)
We also loved this about the Chelsea Fringe – people came together, talked, shared, opened their arms up to each other – all because of the gardens they care for.
The reasons to garden are so varied – to save the planet, to save the pollinators, to grow food, to prune, to show off your skills or just to show-off – yet everyone is bound by the same rules… that sunlight, water and earth will mean something grows, and where something grows something is shared.
Here is what we share with you then, our Chelsea Fringe project for 2014, from 3 different continents and 6 different countries… you should have seen it last week? Well, now you can…
Topiary, The Art Garden at The Henderson
The Art Garden at The Henderson in Hong-Kong has now opened to the public. I joined the project last March, to work with Gillespies Landscape Architects on the topiary that had been designed for the Art Garden, which gives a calm, green space below the extraordinary Henderson skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The garden has been designed with butterflies in mind, so lots of nectar plants, and has other art projects and installations within its footprint. The history of the site is interesting too – it was originally the first cricket ground in Hong-Kong! So still a green space….! …
ClipFest 2025
On Sunday June 22nd there will be Clipfest 2025 at Ichi-Coo Park in Surrey. It is a celebration of all things pruning and topiary, and I will be there in my capacity of teacher at the European Boxwood and Topiary Society to demonstrate tool cleaning and sharpening, and how to clip. Tickets can be found here on Eventbrite. We are hoping for great weather and to see lots of keen pruners getting their shears out and joining us at this amazing garden! And for more on topiary…
Secateur Holders
A present arrived from Norway today, from a student who visited last February to work with Chris Poole and I on learning topiary. His new hobby – a beautiful and neatly stitched secateur holder. Thrilled with this! The holder will save me keep losing my secatuers too…! Thank you Bernt! It was the same student who introduced me to the APA with whom I am doing a talk at the end of March. Tickets can be bought here for ‘Defining The Essence – Aesthetic Pruning in the Garden’. Do join the European Boxwood and Topiary Society for that!