THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Start Here
Welcome to Modern Mint, for home and garden.
We never intended to be a shop. We started as a garden design firm, helping people who felt overwhelmed by their garden learn, season by season, how to make it a beautiful place.
To promote good garden practise we began adding articles to the Modern Mint website. There are now 100’s to explore ranging from environmental issues, to practical techniques for growing flowers, to discussing why we sell a particular item at Modern Mint.
To help you explore it we have provided this Start Here page. Just scroll down to find what interests you the most!
Start here for some free stuff – an e-book we curated for the Chelsea Fringe Festival…
Download ‘Contemporary Green’, a free e-book from Modern Mint
Start here to read some of our most popular garden interviews and essays:
Manifesto for the Modern Gardener
9 Ideas for a Cut Flower Business
The Alternative Guide To What To Do In The Garden This Month
The Charity We Support – Pets as Therapy
Start here for our top products:
Copper Tools for Organic Slug Prevention
Start here to find out where to meet us, or how you to book a talk for your group:
Start here to make sure you stay in touch. We send out news once a month (twice at Christmas) and never sell your email to anyone. It is the best way to be informed about how Modern Mint can help you, and let you know about the unusual home and garden products we have to offer.
So do subscribe using the box below….
Thank you from all of us at Modern Mint!
Darren
Chloe
Stefano
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 …