THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Clippings
That’s right, late spring is the time for clipping and pruning those box hedges, balls, cones and other weird and wonderful shapes you have in your garden. So here is a small selection of photos from our work this year…
… we have written before about topiary, so please do delve deeper into our blog to discover more about what the heck it is we are trying to achieve when we get out the shears and secateurs, and why creating a piece of ‘live sculpture’ in your garden may well be the best thing you could do this year…
Jake Hobson and Creative Pruning
Talking of secateurs, the sharpest, shiniest and best value on the market are these ones from Okatsune…
And for those of you living in Essex and London, who perhaps have an old hedge or plant that needs renovating, you can always ask us about our Organic Topiary service.
It could be the best and cheapest way to deal with that overgrown established shrub in your garden!
Happy clippings folks!
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!