THE MODERN MINT BLOG
We recently read a wonderful essay by comedian Stewart Lee, who tried to answer the question ‘Where have all the right wing comedians gone?’ A fantastic question, and one that has inspired us to ask something similar – where have all the herbicide loving gardeners gone?
(For those of you interested in finding out where all the right wing comedians are, Stewart Lee comes to the conclusion you cannot be a clown, a fool, without being at the bottom of the societal rung. How can you show the foibles of the worker if you are the Boss? You can’t, because when those in authority begin making fun of those lower than themselves, it becomes an act of arrogance and a misuse of power. As a comic, you can only ever be ‘punching upwards.’ He concludes that you can be a right wing newspaper columnist with a few aggrandised comedic turns of phrase – think Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Littlejohn – but by putting their thoughts into print media they distance themselves from any sense of shame. You cannot be stood in front of people, in the heart of the fire, telling them how victorious you are. Because comedy doesn’t work without the tragedy.)
Read ‘Where Are All The Right Wing Stand-ups?‘
Herbicide Haters
Monty Don is a fully paid up organic gardener. I have never heard Lia Leendertz speak about using poisons on her allotment. John Walker, Val Bourne and Bob Flowerdew are beacons of light for organic gardening.
Herbicide Lovers
TheĀ most important figure in the garden media without a blanket ban on toxins in the garden is the RHS. Here is their policy:
The RHS believes that avoiding pests and diseases by good practice in cultivation methods, cultivar selection, garden hygiene and encouraging or introducing natural enemies, should be the first line of control. However, garden chemicals can be effective tools if used correctly and in a discriminating way when other methods fail.
It would be interesting to see them put a ban on all herbicides and garden chemicals. Having to use imagination and skill to tackle problems in the garden without recourse to poisons might be just the limit needed to get gardeners thinking and innovating. Or at the very least, we might start judging plants and insects and whether they are in the right or wrong place with a little more empathy. The other herbicide loving gardener is the retail outlets who sell the products. The garden centres, the hardware shops, even the supermarkets…
Very happy that all plants sold @waitrose are free of #neonicotinoids š Very sad #neonics still sold separately š pic.twitter.com/iBOMbK1Sur
ā Judith Conroy (@JCGardener) May 15, 2015
You won’t see any Ā herbicide on the shelves at Modern Mint. Having now discovered most retail outlets and the RHS don’t have a ban on using herbicides, where else in the garden media is there to look for a fight? The monster, it tuns out, is much more difficult to beat.
Gardeners Who Use Herbicides
“I had to use glyphosphate when I first started clearing my plot- I had no choice.”
“I do not like to use glyphosate either but I could not garden if I did not take drastic action.”
“Glyphosate is regarded as “safe” and I think it prob is when used with care.” (See this article – Glyphosate is probably carcinogenic.)
“I don’t like using glyphosate either so save it for situations where nothing else will (be the) answer.”
“Many people on my allotment site are very anti any weed killer, and generally I am too…. When not overrun by bindweed.”
You can find these statements on gardening forums on the internet. We think it isĀ shocking thatĀ people have an understanding of the anti-herbicideĀ cultural zeitgeist, yet still they convince themselves it is fine to use them when they thinkĀ no other options are available.
That is when you get the statement “I know this is wrong, but…”
We think more than a gardening education is needed. A course on dealing with bindweed, nettles, couch grass et al will give people the necessary tools to get rid of them from the garden. But what good is this technical skill if the spiritual and emotional viewpoint is undernourished – the understanding that time and patience in the garden is a virtue, and thatĀ all the animal and vegetable matter within it needs to be treated with respect and care?
It is this type of garden education, to run alongside the learning of plant names and techniques for dealing with weeds, that is needed.
Only then, when we have a nation of gardeners who say, “I know this is wrong, so I won’t do it…” that we will have to work really hard to discoverĀ where all the herbicide loving gardeners have gone.
Monty Don British Gardens Episode 4
I hadn’t seen the new Monty Don series ‘Monty Don’s British Gardens’ but I was sent a message one evening to say stick it on – episode 4 especially! On the episode were three gardens I make and clip the topiary in… the photo above is my quizzical boxwood emu… which looks ridiculous out of context of the wider topiary garden it sits in… but hey! Showcases what you can do with boxwood, when given enough time to let it grow! But also on the episode were Waltham Place, one of my favourite gardens and a place I teach topiary …
Topiary Art In Hong Kong, The Henderson
Here are a couple of photos of the topiary work I have been doing in Hong Kong for the Art Garden at the bottom of the brand new skyscraper, The Henderson. The building has been designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and this November 2024 the garden at the base of the structure will be planted up, with lots of topiary originally designed by Gillespies Landscape Architects, grown by Tarzan Nursery in China, and then clipped and refined into shape by…. me. Will update with photos from The Henderson Art Garden when all is completed and the garden is opened, but …
EBTS Boxwood Growers Forum
Through the European Boxwood and Topiary Society I worked with Chris Poole and Sue Mesher, members of the EBTS board, and we set up a Boxwood Growers Forum. This was to discuss how to make sure this wonderful topiary plant stays in the public conscioussness – we know many growers, suppliers and distributors have stopped selling it as the cost of replacing boxwood that has blight, or is nibbled by the boxwood caterpillar, makes it unviable to offer to clients and gardeners. But Boxwood is a phoenix plant, and there are ways to deal with the problems associated with Buxus. …