THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Hypertufa High Jinks
The Chelsea Fringe is about all things gardening, but that doesn’t mean you always have to be outside. One of the online projects you can see at this years festival is ‘Hypertufa High Jinks’…
… ‘Hypertufa High Jinks’ is run by garden writer Ansel Oommen and science artist Cynthia Nguyen.
Follow Hetty the hypertufa elephant as she travels the ‘world’, magnifying the tiny spaces around us that often go unnoticed. So come down and take a closer look: that patch of weeds may as well be a jungle or that pebble, a treacherous mountain. You never know what stories lurk in the undergrowth when you let your imagination wander.
A brilliant idea!
Hetty’s adventures will be updated from New York City during the run of the festival (May 17th – June 8th.)
And don’t forget Modern Mint have their own online project “You Should Have Seen It Last Week…” if you crave even more online gardening fun… or it’s raining outside.
If it is raining outside… then get yourself a gardening book… we recommend…
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 …