THE MODERN MINT BLOG
So here we have a new programme – All Gardens Great And Small – with the comedienne Miranda Hart and her gardening mother, Dee Hart-Dyke.
You can watch the first episode here on More4.
And here we are with our tools out, soaking up the sunshine on the day of filming.
But why would you watch All Gardens Great And Small? Why especially this first episode?
Because you can see the wonderful work of our friend, topiary artist Charlotte Molesworth, and get a rare glimpse into her extraordinary topiary garden. She is the first garden visited by Miranda Hart’s mum, and it looks fabulous.
It should do, because we spent blooming ages through spring helping her clip and prune the hedges, trees and topiaries. We also helped weed through the exceptional flower borders that Charlotte and her husband Donald have been tending, caring for and cultivating over the last 33 years. (You even see Charlotte holding her preferred gardening trowel, which she got from us here at Modern Mint….)
It was incredibly fortunate that on the day of filming the sun shone bright, as it meant not only did Dee Hart-Dyke get a chance to really look around the garden but also had an opportunity to try out some pruning, with Charlotte teaching her how to make a topiary bird.
The boxwood plant used on the show was one Charlotte had grown herself, from a cutting she took years previously. Digging it out from her boxwood nursery was a job left to Modern Mint back in early spring…
Please do take a look at All Gardens Great And Small with Miranda Hart and her mum – it is, of course, an innuendo-laden programme – but they have done a great job seeking out some unusual places to visit and share with you.
And we are of course so proud to have been involved in making the first garden of the series such a visually arresting and fun one.
If you would like Charlotte Molesworth and Modern Mint to help you with some topiary, we travel all across the UK (and recently into mainland Europe!) to clip, cut,a dive and design.
Here is a design done for a client in Kent, of topiary ducks sat looking into a pond…
So do watch contact us to start a conversation about the topiary in your garden.
(Or buy yourself a pair of these shears, the ones used by Charlotte in the programme, and get started at home….)
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 …