THE MODERN MINT BLOG
On Monday night I gave a talk to the Hardy Plant Society Middlesex. Below are a few links for further information based on some of the ideas discussed in the talk:
Real Seeds – a fantastic supplier of fruit and vegetable seeds for growers.
Boxwood Caterpillar Advice – from the European Boxwood & Topiary Society. I will also write a little companion piece this winter with more information and some topiary techniques, so watch out for that on this website.
Boxwood Lure & Nematodes – my preferred option for dealing with the caterpillar. Discount code for 10% off is EBTSBOX29GBZ
Henk Gerritsen – a new edition of his book is available! Only (ha!) £51. A brilliant book. He also wrote ‘Dream Plants For The Natural Garden’ with designer Piet Oudolf.
Wool Compost – a peat free compost that brings industry to a part of the UK that ends it. Worth every penny.
The Garden Of Charlotte Molesworth – near Great Dixter and Sissinghurst, it is 34 years in the making and an absolute treasure. She opens for NGS occasionally and runs a holiday let there too. My mentor, a brilliant gardener and artiste!
Rewilding – a fantastic book about bringing top level predators back to the UK.
Lovely group and many thanks for inviting me to visit.
Darren, Modern Mint
Box Hill – Novella by Adam Mars-Jones
I picked this book up back in 2020 because of the title – Box Hill – fabulous, I thought, a book about boxwood. I’ll peruse this for its respective thoughts on the plant I clip most when I make topiary. I didn’t read the blurb on the back. Didn’t know the author (although I knew the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, as I love many of the essays they have published… so trusted the author would be worth spending time with.) By page 2 I realised this novel wasn’t quite what I had expected. I started the book at 10pm, after getting …
The Henderson, Topiary Art Interview on Instagram
In a suit… eek! View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Henderson (@thehenderson_hk)
Topiary, The Art Garden at The Henderson
The Art Garden at The Henderson in Hong-Kong has now opened to the public. I joined the project last March, to work with Gillespies Landscape Architects on the topiary that had been designed for the Art Garden, which gives a calm, green space below the extraordinary Henderson skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The garden has been designed with butterflies in mind, so lots of nectar plants, and has other art projects and installations within its footprint. The history of the site is interesting too – it was originally the first cricket ground in Hong-Kong! So still a green space….! …