THE MODERN MINT BLOG
As you know by now, we are big fans of John Walker, the earth friendly gardener.
He writes:
Excellently Researched Blog Posts
And Tweets Quite A Bit Too!
Here is a small selection of his most recent tweets. Do give him a follow!
Interesting project cultivating meadow habitat in urban Oslo – plus the biodiversity and skills that come with it… https://t.co/PwO1yuk7JN
— Judith Conroy (@JCGardener) September 3, 2017
Tough to quit #plastic if you’re a #gardener in the UK. Big #Gardening routinely drowns us in the stuff & few signs of it abating. https://t.co/bvBpDr0N9P
— John Walker (@earthFgardener) September 4, 2017
Gotta keep those shiny new tractors busy. Definitely not #countryside custodianship… #Farming #Fail https://t.co/CRrNIoIouP
— John Walker (@earthFgardener) September 3, 2017
Teasel: a striking & spiky wild plant that’ll boost your #garden’s #bees #butterflies & #birds. https://t.co/L8UwQI04DV #WonderfulWeeds pic.twitter.com/4IJ47fB8MC
— John Walker (@earthFgardener) September 2, 2017
My interview w/ @DaveGoulson on threat to #garden #bees from #pesticides in ‘bee-friendly’ #plants. https://t.co/Blsu9j0FPT via @wwwfoecouk
— John Walker (@earthFgardener) September 1, 2017
Great success this summer w/ tree #lilies potted in my home-made #peatfree #compost mix. ‘Pretty Woman’ scenting the entire #garden. pic.twitter.com/PlC4P4Xqp2
— John Walker (@earthFgardener) August 31, 2017
Oh. So the target for #gardening (in England) to be 100% #peatfree by 2020 is still in place & the goal is to meet it? Yes or no? Thanks. https://t.co/Ckvj5uZosP
— John Walker (@earthFgardener) August 30, 2017
On the trail of the night sprayers. My new 22nd century #gardening post @Hartleybotanic https://t.co/VBu5pZtAdv #bees #pesticides #nature pic.twitter.com/x5Cvt8M27g
— John Walker (@earthFgardener) August 30, 2017
Or even better, try using a reusable #cotton cloth? You can #compost it when it’s all mucky and needs replacing. https://t.co/bqUdMO8OzT
— John Walker (@earthFgardener) August 25, 2017
Encouraging to see one of my collections of #gardening #essays ranking well in Amazon’s #globalwarming category. https://t.co/3i2LYczle8 pic.twitter.com/CxKWeLbkGz
— John Walker (@earthFgardener) August 24, 2017
Brought By Bike – Topiary Making
Brought By Bike is an excellent website I found last month, where businesses offer their services by (of course) bicycle. Modern Mint and my topiary work is now live on the site offering my topiary services, via bike, to the following two postcodes – CM1 CM2 Now I can imagine I will need to borrow a ladder should anyone have a larger shrub, but most town gardens in the Chelmsford area have a need not just for privacy but to let light into the house… so a balance must be struck when shaping hedges and shrubs to cover both needs. …
Transforming Topiary
Transforming Topiary – a video made for the European Boxwood And Topiary Society by Charlotte Molesworth and I, in her garden. We take a dog topiary and work out how to update it, turning it into a bird. Worth a watch I think, and hopefully useful to you! You can see more of my clipping on the topiary page. Or read my Spring 2021 Topiary Provocation here.
Phillyrea From 1682
Phillyrea is one of my favourite plants for topiary. I have been using it for quite a few years as a specimen shrub, mostly due to the fact it clips well and has a tough habit – all good characteristics for a topiary plant. It also has a reputation for being an excellent nectar source for bees… Read more about Phillyrea here. Mentioning this to Malcolm Thicke, a market garden historian and writer, he sent me a some photos of topiary and phillyrea mentioned by John Worlidge in Systema Horticulturae from 1682…. incredible! He also mentioned to me that in …