THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Lovely to see the RHS have a small article in the latest Garden Magazine telling people about reducing their gardening carbon footprint.
We were banging on about this ages ago…. we even did a whole project about it for the Chelsea Fringe 2017…. Capture Carbon In Your Garden.
The RHS notes:
Plant anything green to capture carbon
Mulch soils and avoid digging to make sure carbon stays in the soil
Don’t use labour and carbon intensive nitrogen-based fertilisers – instead use natural alternatives like seaweed, comfrey (yes, it is stinky!) or mulching with well-rotted horse manure or homemade garden compost…. which is always amazing stuff!
Use peat free compost – which avoids digging up peat lands, which are vast stores of carbon.
Thank you RHS for writing about this. Thank you for reading more….
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 …