THE MODERN MINT BLOG
The Whispered Launch
The problem with whispering is not that you won’t be heard. The problem is what the listener might hear.
If you have heard about Modern Mint – that we are a design and landscape company working in Essex and London – then you have heard right.
If you have heard we learnt our trade working on large estates in Hampshire and Berkshire, before closing down and moving to live in East Anglia, bringing our brand of vibrant, modern gardens with us… then you have heard right again.
But if you heard we make gardens that are lacklustre, boring and hard to maintain…you’ve been misled. The listener misheard the whisper.
This is our whispered launch then… Modern Mint has arrived in East Anglia, and we want to make great gardens.
Did you hear that right?
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 …