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 Workshop 2026 at Waltham Place
The next topiary workshop I will be teaching is now live on the website and can be booked! Just visit Waltham Place to get a ticket for the Topiary Workshop I will be teaching on Friday September 4th at Waltham Place. Myself and Chris Poole of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society (Buxus expert! Like, he knows everything there is to know about the plant! So worth booking just to tap into his knowledge….!) will be teaching here for the… fifth year in a row I think? The garden is a beautiful place to spend time clipping. We will teach …
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 …