THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Permaculture Magazine
Do any of you read Permaculture Magazine? We have just found out about it and are very excited to see they not only sell lovely copper tools, but also have a fantastic website. On it you can:
Sign up to Permaculture courses.
Hear podcasts and watch videos about how people are changing the way they live to be more resilient and self-sustaining.
Find recipes for making use of plants and weeds you may not think about eating.
Get solutions for your own permaculture experiments.
(Oh, and you can of course buy the magazine….)
What is Permaculture?
“Permaculture is the design of an ecologically sound way of living.”
We thought this quote was beautiful and really inspires us to think about how we garden, work and live.
We hope you will take heart from this phrase and begin to question, then seek answers, for a way of life that suits both yourself and the world around you.
If you want to know more about gardening organically, try this blog: Manifesto for the Modern Gardener.
Topiary, The Art Garden at The Henderson
The Art Garden at The Henderson in Hong-Kong has now opened to the public. I joined the project last March, to work with Gillespies Landscape Architects on the topiary that had been designed for the Art Garden, which gives a calm, green space below the extraordinary Henderson skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The garden has been designed with butterflies in mind, so lots of nectar plants, and has other art projects and installations within its footprint. The history of the site is interesting too – it was originally the first cricket ground in Hong-Kong! So still a green space….! …
ClipFest 2025
On Sunday June 22nd there will be Clipfest 2025 at Ichi-Coo Park in Surrey. It is a celebration of all things pruning and topiary, and I will be there in my capacity of teacher at the European Boxwood and Topiary Society to demonstrate tool cleaning and sharpening, and how to clip. Tickets can be found here on Eventbrite. We are hoping for great weather and to see lots of keen pruners getting their shears out and joining us at this amazing garden! And for more on topiary…
Secateur Holders
A present arrived from Norway today, from a student who visited last February to work with Chris Poole and I on learning topiary. His new hobby – a beautiful and neatly stitched secateur holder. Thrilled with this! The holder will save me keep losing my secatuers too…! Thank you Bernt! It was the same student who introduced me to the APA with whom I am doing a talk at the end of March. Tickets can be bought here for ‘Defining The Essence – Aesthetic Pruning in the Garden’. Do join the European Boxwood and Topiary Society for that!