THE MODERN MINT BLOG
First of all, a long article at Country Life magazine about the Art of Topiary… with a mention for my mentor Charlotte Molesworth, and her topiary garden in Kent.
Read here ‘The Ancient Art Of Topiary’
And in Country Living that chap King Charles (King!) starts work on a climate friendly topiary garden at Sandringham. Love the idea of ripping up a lawn for flowers and shrubs – will be intrigued to see how climate friendly the project works out to be, as they expect to finish it in May, just 4 months down the line.
Most topiaries I make are at their best… well, at leat 4 years after I start them. So you can’t complete a topiary garden in 4 months unless you bring in fully grown pieces, which have a carbon cost.
Have they lacked the courage to plant what basically look like sticks, then watch them grow over the years? And shape as appropriate? I wouldn’t blame them for being too timid to do this…
But I would love to see a topiary garden started from scratch, in order to earn a little more right to call itself cliamate friendly. I look forward to seeing and learning more though… as I may be judging too fast – ha!
Read here about the ‘climate friendly’ Topiary Garden of the King
Finally, Topiarius France has a front cover showing my work on the largest Topiary Garden in the UK. I don’t speak French so haven’t read it, but apparently they attibute the clipping to someone else. Ho-hum.
Some photos can be seen here, and a copy bought if desired.
The Amelia Project – Episode 88: Didius Julianus
Friends of mine write a sitcom podcast called The Amelia Project (I wrote about this years ago, when they started it….!) December 2024 I had some fun playing the tiny part of Fornio in episode 88 – Didius Julianus. I have not listened to the episode yet, as I am clearly not an actor… and the thought of listening to my dulcet tones for the few minutes I’m in it just… makes me feel ill. But the recording and being in the studio was great fun, the real actors were hilarious and the script is brilliant – not just funny, …
Waltham Place Topiary Workshop 2026
With the European Boxwood and Topiary Society, I run two workshops each year at Waltham Place, one of my favourite gardens. The next topiary workshop there will be on Friday September 4th 2026. Details and how to book yet to be announced, but get in touch with them now to get on the waiting list, as last year we had double the amount of people wanting a place than we had space for. The Waltham Place website is here – topiary workshop 2026. See the teaching page for how else I can help you with the topiary in your garden …
Box Hill – Novella by Adam Mars-Jones
I picked this book up back in 2020 because of the title – Box Hill – fabulous, I thought, a book about boxwood. I’ll peruse this for its respective thoughts on the plant I clip most when I make topiary. I didn’t read the blurb on the back. Didn’t know the author (although I knew the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, as I love many of the essays they have published… so trusted the author would be worth spending time with.) By page 2 I realised this novel wasn’t quite what I had expected. I started the book at 10pm, after getting …