THE MODERN MINT BLOG
UPDATE: I STILL TEACH TOPIARY COMPOSITION, BUT AM GOING TO MAKE A VIDEO OF THE CLASS TO ALLOW MORE PEOPLE TO VIEW IT – FOR MORE INFORMATION CHECK OUT THE TEACHING PAGE!
Topiary Composition and design is a major part of my work – which is why I have created an online seminar for keen gardeners and creatives to learn how to compose a piece of topiary.
There are several dates available so please head here to buy a ticket.
The seminar lasts two hours (including q and a) and will explore the process needed to look at a shrub or hedge and work out what you can design from it.
These principles have been learnt the hard way – through mentoring, experimenting and years of practise.
Hopefully, it will help you shortcut any mistake and get you to a wonderful piece of topiary in no time – and not be too back-breaking to maintain!
Do join me for my topiary composition seminar.
I have been a topiary artist for a long time – you can see my work here in the Artisan Series in the Guardian newspaper or some of my basic work on the website here.
I also teach topiary and pruning at many places including the European Boxwood and Topiary Society and The English Gardening School.
Most topiary I am asked to make is either quite dull, or based on historical shapes that are fiddly and difficult to maintain. I want, through this topiary seminar, to give you the skills to update your hedges and shrubs to a modern way of gardening – easy to maintain, light, full of life and possibly even a ggod home for birds, or a provider of nectar filled flowers for bees.
This means choosing the right plants, giving them time to grow and evolve, and placing the right plants around it to show it off.
Often with topiary less can be more, so you will (if you join the seminar) be given real world examples and the htought process of how I made it – and why.
I want you to go away inspired, with a better understanding of what makes a good topiary and how it fits into a modern garden.
Join me if you are a gardener or a creative person on one of the days here, online, for a topiary composition seminar!
Or check out my topiary work here.
Modern Topiary, the Book, at Garden Media Guild
My book about topiary, Modern Topiary, has been mentioned on the Garden Media Guild newsletter…. As the screenshot says, the book can be read for free online here. At the bottom of the screenshot, it looks like another Garden Media Guild member has a book out called ‘A Year In A Cottage Garden’…. so if that is where your garden heart lies, check that out too! And at the top of the screenshot, it looks like I was listening to Pelleas et Melisande, by Debussy. What a classy chap I am, listening to classical music as I reply to emails. …
Start of the Whitby Topiary Library
I have been offered a space here in the centre of Whitby, south-facing aspect, with some raised beds in, so that I can make a Topiary Library. In my head, a topiary library is a place to showcase the common (and then not so common) shapes you can make out of topiary. With classical topiary plants, as well as some more unusual pieces. This Topiary Library can act as a reference for people to learn more about pruning and clipping. The space is small but the aspect is great and the beds are deep enough to put some plants in. …
Delivery After Dark – From the Makers of The Amelia Project
Last week I spent most nights stood in cold water streams on the moors of North Yorkshire, helping to film a new project called Delivery After Dark from the makers of the Amelia Project. I worked on the Amelia Project back at the end of 2024, lending my terrible vocal talents to a small part in the episode Didius Julianus. But this project is something new – and exciting! – and thankfully only needed me to be filmed, rather than to actually say anything. But not only did I have to stand in cold moving water at midnight, I also …