THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Recycle Your Plant Pots
How many plant pots do you have in the shed?
It is normally quite a few, once you dust off the spider webs and take a really good look!
Some estimates in the media equate the figure to be 5 million redundant plant pots sat in homes across the UK.
That is a lot of plastic that has no use, and cannot be recycled. Until now, that is…
At Modern Mint we sell a few eco-friendly products that re-use these plastic plant pots. Have you seen our stylish clocks?
We also do a brilliantly helpful set of plant labels, both printed and clear… what vegetable gardener doesn’t need these?
Think that is all? Think again. We make your old plastic plant pots into a bird feeder too… this is WILDLY popular!
Gosh, we even make them into house signs!
No longer should those pots of yours be left, useless and gathering cobwebs, at the bottom of the garden. Now they can be truly recycled.
To find your nearest garden centre, who will take your pots from you free of charge, click here.
Don’t have a garden centre near you who can collect them?
Print out this leaflet and give it to the garden centre manager so they have all the information they need to make plant pot recycling happen at theirs!
Another way to save plastic plant pots ending up in landfill, is to grow your plants from seed. Worth a try?
Modern Mint – helping recycle plant pots, instead of sending them to landfill.
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 …