THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Sally Nex is a writer at The Garden magazine, the Guardian, Grow Your Own magazine as well as teaching at the online My Gardening School.
We met her via Twitter and through emails a few years ago – and she is lovely. Her writing too is always interesting, worth a read.
Sally gardens in Somerset, on an acre of land, where she says she battles the brambles and also looks after chickens and a flock of Dorset Down rare breed sheep.
And now she has a new book coming out, based on Growing Your Own for Self Sufficiency.
Published by Green Books, a publisher who provide all sorts of wonderful and weird titles in their list, we are sure this book will be a fine one, rooted in practical experience but written with an authors eye.
Worth a read, lovely Modern Minters!
Get the new book about self-sufficiency and growing your own food by Sally Nex now.
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 …