THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Grown-up Gardening
The comic below is called Grown-ups. We share it with you because it tells us something important about being a Modern Gardener – more important by far than learning Latin plant names (though they are important) and saving water (that is necessary too!)
This comic shows us that as a gardener, a Modern Gardener, we have a responsibility to the space we call our home. We get to decide how to use it, what we put in it, the way we interact with the flora and fauna that we share it with.
As a Modern Gardener, as a grown-up, we decide how we treat the earth. This comic reminds us it is attitude and imagination that matters, that makes life exciting, that makes our homes and our gardens a wonderful place to be – far more than learning to ‘get something right and garden properly’ will ever do.
Don’t be childish. Be a grown-up.
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 …