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.
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 …
Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue
With Chris Poole of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society we visited Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue in Rutland. Do you know it? Amazing place! Chris and I were teaching a topiary workshop in order to give local people the skills and technique, and tenacity! to help with the pruning of the avenue and elevate it to something even more special than it already is. Read more about the workshops here. We hope to run a further workshop in September 2026, as well as teach an advanced course too. Check the teaching page through the year as it will be updated …