THE MODERN MINT BLOG
We love topiary and clipping here at Modern Mint. That is one of the reasons we sell some of the best, sharpest and most beautifully balanced hand tools in the business…
THE BEST TOPIARY CLIPPERS. EVER.
So it is gratifying to read about others who have ditched the power tools and started taking the time to garden with a better, quieter connection to the plants.
“I decided at the end of autumn 2015 to become a fossil fuel-free gardener – or at least work towards it. No bothering with extension cables, no fiddling with my chainsaw’s petrol-oil mix, just muscle-power.
I’d like to say that my conversion was the result of a high-minded engagement with the Slow Movement, but that was only part of it. It was more to do with a growing irritation with just how much it takes to keep power tools happy….”
Read more about this chaps adventure in ditching power tools here.
We loved this article, because it shows what happens when you spend a little time with your plants. You learn more about how they grow, sure, but you also learn about yourself. Those few times he has spent doing the garden, bit by bit, creates a habit that will eventually lead him to his goal (of cutting the hedge without fossil fuel.)
Less irritation with sorting out the tools, less of an attitude that it is just another job to tick off the to-do list, gardening in tune with your own muscle means you grow personally – the mind will start by racing away with all the thing you could be doing, but then settles (quicker than you might think!) and allows you to focus, pay real attention, on the actual job at hand.
It is a lovely way to live, to work – and who needs the hedge done at once anyway?
Kudos to the guy as well, for having hedges as the boundaries of his home. What a fantastic place for wildlife to inhabit.
To see what can be done with hand tools, check out our work with Charlotte Molesworth at her topiary garden in Kent….
To see the tools we use to make life easier and the mind… sharper… visit our pruning tools page for a browse.
Modern Topiary, the Book, at Garden Media Guild
My book about topiary, Modern Topiary, has been mentioned on the Garden Media Guild newsletter…. As the screenshot says, the book can be read for free online here. At the bottom of the screenshot, it looks like another Garden Media Guild member has a book out called ‘A Year In A Cottage Garden’…. so if that is where your garden heart lies, check that out too! And at the top of the screenshot, it looks like I was listening to Pelleas et Melisande, by Debussy. What a classy chap I am, listening to classical music as I reply to emails. …
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 …