THE MODERN MINT BLOG

Feb28

Open Garden Charlotte Molesworth 2019

Balmoral Cottage is the garden of my topiary mentor Charlotte Molesworth. She will be opening her garden in 2019 on the following dates:

  • April 7th
  • May 5th
  • September 22nd
  • September 29th

For the NGS Yellow Book. Highly recommend you visit as it is a fantastic garden, grown over 34 years and completely organic.

Dates are still to be confirmed for the South East Open Studios. But they will be open sometime in late spring to showcase Charlotte paintings, as well as sculptural work for the garden by other artists local to this part of Kent.

The Potting Shed Holiday Let, Benenden

You can also stay in The Potting Shed at her lovely garden, and discover from her first hand how it was made and is maintained. It is a brilliant little bolthole for a long weekend or week away, close to Great Dixter, Sissinghurst, Hole Park and of course – the sea!

Visit The Potting Shed Benenden for more details.


Charlotte is keen to be as green as possible, reducing her carbon footprint and making sure we allow garden life to survive and thrive. At Modern Mint, we have a similar ethos and have used a green energy supplier for a long time now.

Buying green energy is the simplest way to make a difference – almost as good as having a compost heap!

We use Bulb as out green energy supplier. We recommend you do too – if you sign up, we both get a financial benefit (alongside the moral one) and they do all the paperwork for you. They even pay any fees you may be charged for leaving your current supplier.

Find out more about using Green Energy and making a difference to the world in the simplest way possible.

Feb10

Why I Wrote The Book Modern Topiary

I have written this book, Modern Topiary, because I wanted a collation of useful information that would give people access to everything they need to know in order to start making topiary. Topiary is an amazing (and niche) line of work to follow – amazing because it offers up opportunities to travel all over the world, making gardens, meeting people… but also, the work is intensely physical, hands-on, yet requires creative thinking in order to solve the puzzle of how to make the shapes you want. This mixture of the craft and the art is what I love the most …

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Jan30

Buxus the Norfolk Terrier In Modern Topiary Book

This is Buxus, our Norfolk Terrier, who I acknowledge in the acknowledgments of the book of Modern Topiary. The book of Modern Topiary can be read, for free, here. There you go. Buxus the dog on ‘doorstep duty’ at a friend’s house in Edinburgh. For those asking what he looked like!

Jan30

What People Think Of Modern Topiary, The Book

Yesterday I put out the book – Modern Topiary – that I have spent the last six years writing. Download for free a pdf of Modern Topiary here. And what seems amazing to me, is that not only have people actually been reading it, but then responding to it. So below are a number of comments I have been sent from those who read it last night, and this morning…. “Brilliant read, exactly the right amount of info to take in and digest.” Rachel, a gardener “I love your book, the advice is so straightforward and your writing is so …

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