THE MODERN MINT BLOG
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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
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Thank you from all of us at Modern Mint!
Darren
Chloe
Stefano
A Topiary Calendar – When To Prune
Below are a few pointers on when you need to think about your topiary and hedges this year, so you can make sure you clip at the best time and not waste any effort doing work you don’t need to do… January & February Roses, fruit trees and wisteria is where the focus lies. Yes, it is cold and the work can be unpleasant because you are often stood on a ladder with your secateurs, barely moving enough to warm the body, but get these jobs done well, with care, and you can enjoy the fruits and flowers of your …
The English Garden Magazine – On Our Topiary Workshop
Last September when I and topiary artist (and mentor) Charlotte Molesworth ran a weekend of topiary masterclasses we had a visit from the garden writer Non Morris. You can read more about Non and her garden design work and writings here. She has written a lovely article for the February 2022 edition of The English Garden Magazine about her afternoon working with us and learning about topiary – I’m really thrilled by the piece, because she mentions not just a little of the wonderful history of Balmoral Cottage and how the garden grew, but also shares a little of how …
Topiary Provocation Autumn 2021
This Autumn I have presented another ‘Topiary Provocation’ to keen gardeners and designers. If you want to know more about topiary, the report on what we discussed and where modern topiary is going can be read by clicking the link below: Topiary Provocation Report Autumn 2021 This report is free to post on your own website or blog, just credit Modern Mint, and don’t change anything within it. Alternatively you can just share it with keen friends… or enemies?