THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Modern Mint at 300
Modern Mint Reaches 300 Blog Posts!
Less than 3 years since we started blogging at Modern Mint, we have reached our 300th blog post today, with this one! 300!
It has been a monumental effort by a few different people (Darren, quite a lot, Chloe, a fair bit, then some other fantastic garden writers too…)
There have been some amazing and incredibly useful posts along the way. Some awful ones too (hands up again Darren!) But it goes without saying that you need to throw yourself out there and do it, in order to find your voice.
And after 300 blog posts we think Modern Mint really has got its voice.
The First Blog at Modern Mint was a short little number. We started our days as a garden design outfit here in Chelmsford, Essex and that is reflected in the blog. The website was 5 pages wide. These pages consisted of:
- homepage
- about page
- contact page
- blog
- portfolio
The Modern Mint green was a lighter shade, rather than the little olive number we have now. Even the logo had a different tag line…
The second stage of the Modern Mint blog was a call to arms for gardeners. We wrote extensively about best gardening practise and interviewed lots of wonderful people in the horticultural industry, who spoke passionately and with great clarity on their specialist subjects.
For example, we wondered where the herbicide loving gardeners had gone? John Walker told us about earth friendly gardening. Flower grower Carole Patilla shared her thoughts on growing flowers. And we met a cycling gardener from Liverpool who inspired us immensely with his new business.
Our most popular blog of this time, one still linked to often and helping people get out and garden is this one…
9 Ideas for a Cut Flower Business
We also ran several projects at the Chelsea Fringe, one year curating an ebook of 100 word essays on gardening, by gardeners. You can read ‘Contemporary Green’ here, for FREE.
The third stage of the Modern Mint blog is when we really came into our own. We updated the website, taking out the portfolio and turning it into a full-time shop – because that is what you wanted from us!
We kept being asked what we thought the best tools were for use in the garden, or the best garden furniture or if this product could really be of use…. or did we have anything to give a difficult family member at Christmas, as a gift?
We knew from the queries that we were curating some remarkable products that people would appreciate. Rooting them in the garden, or the natural world, or giving them an air of the earth friendly (check out this brilliant book, for example!) helped us forge our identity as an online shop with a grand following.
“Thank you for sending me my lovely Nunki a few weeks ago. I loved the kind and simple way it was packed – with bits of wool. I have recommended your site to another friend who will be buying a Nunki from you very soon.”
A satisfied customer, recently… who then bought our last Nunki weeder. We hope to have some back in stock soon…! Keep checking back!
The Modern Mint blog now tells you about why we have certain products on here. Why we use them. How you can get the best from them.
That really is where we are at – Modern Mint at 300 – an online (and Christmas Fairs) shop with a love of the natural.
Do check out the rest of the blog – we have been 300 posts in getting here!
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 …