THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Gardening Jobs August
What are the gardening jobs to do in August?
1) Make hay while the sun shines (you can always do this by scything…)
2) Prune wisteria.
3) Deadhead your dahlias.
4) Be water-wise (don’t water your lawn, use harvested rainwater instead of tap water. If you haven’t harvested any rainwater, try somewhere like Harrod Horticultural for ideas.)
5) Start thinking about ordering bulbs for planting in Autumn – we are doing a garden design in Upminster, Essex at the moment and will be adding lots of daffodils – cannot wait!
6) Use up your courgettes – put them in chocolate cake, barbeque them, slice them thinly, add creme fraiche and then grate lemon zest over the top – they are a brilliant vegetable. We are growing Striato d’Napoli this year and it looks great…
7) Harvest your blackcurrants (what do you mean you haven’t planted any blackcurrants?) and make cassis or add to porridge. Yum!
8) Trim your yew and beech hedging.
9) It’s hot. So enjoy the last days of summer and don’t work too hard…
For more in depth knowledge on what to do now, try these books…
RHS Gardening Through The Year
Four-season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long
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 …