THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Happy New Year from Darren and Chloe at Modern Mint!
Modern Mint will be turning 1 next month and what a busy year it has been…
… we have designed gardens, sown meadows, written nearly 200 blog posts, took part in the Chelsea Fringe, performed a new garden show called ‘What Do You Do With This Space?’ and started an online shop to showcase the best in artisan talent – furniture makers, tool makers, soap makers – we are seeking them out and sharing them with you!
Excited?
Absolutely.
Garden Design
With 5 designs on the go at the moment, and 2 meadows taking shape, we have a busy spring this year. And already the phone has been going for more work! So do get in quick if you need help and ideas with your garden this year.
Here are our major projects currently on the go:
A large garden in Upminster, Essex.
A small, private garden in North London.
A large garden in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex.
Phase two of a large, private garden in Gidea Park, Essex.
Phase two of a meadow in Gidea Park, Essex.
Phase two of a meadow in Grove Park, London.
Organic Topiary
We also have our new shears coming this weekend, to help us with our Organic Topiary work in 2015 – we have been asked to sculpt a number of hedges and trees to give them a more dynamic look.
If you want to know more about this new form of topiary, check out these blog posts:
Or better yet, send us a message. We’d love to tell you why Organic Topiary has such cutting edge style (hehehe…)
Shop
Our shop is a platform for us to share with you the products we love – products that are sustainably sourced, hand-made, beautifully crafted, and support the idiosyncratic voices of the artisans who make them.
They are products for the home and the garden, and our list of suppliers is growing all the time.
If you know someone who is, shall we say, a little different…? Please tell them about us! We want to hear from them. And you, of course – if you want a particualr product, of a high quality, and you just can’t find it on the High Street – let us know and we will seek it out for you.
See our shop to discover what we have already found in our first 3 months since opening…
Blog
Top 5 posts from 2014:
2) Interview with Rosy Bee – Plants for Bees
3) 9 Ideas for a Cut Flower Business
5) Dan Pearson’s Must-Have Plants
Chelsea Fringe
We are curating a book of manifestos answering the question – why do you cultivate your garden? Each manifesto is no more than 100 words. This is a call for authors and garden enthusiasts to share their ideas with us – come on, 100 words – you have that in you, right?
Find out more here Chelsea Fringe 2015 Modern Mint.
Do follow us on Twitter to find out more – and have a great 2015 everyone – from Darren and Chloe at Modern Mint!
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 …