THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Modern Mint Shop
Modern Mint Garden Design has been up and running for almost 8 months now. As well as Garden Design services we also want Modern Mint to be a place to go to for interesting articles, garden knowledge AND we want to share with you in our shop products we love – products that are unusual, fun, sustainable and beautiful.
We want to promote people and organisations that produce items based on their own individual creativity (check out this great arm chair),
locally sourced or artisanal products (this from the potteries in Stoke on Trent, mugs to make you laugh),
… and an ingenious way to use up unpopular wool that would otherwise be heading for the bin (wool wellie warmers!)
Take a look and let us know what you think, more items are going up every day on the shop as we start to build up our collection of goods.
And if you MAKE any unusual products and would like to include them in our shop please do get in touch!
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 …