THE MODERN MINT BLOG
We are sorry to say there has been a price increase in our copper tools.
These incredible tools/works of art are handmade in Europe and since we have left the EU the unfavourable exchange rate no longer allows us to absorb increased costs from production.
This comes at the same time that the tools are gaining huge popularity worldwide (hurray for sensible folk who want to garden with great tools that last a lifetime, rather than throwaway rubbish!) and the foundry are struggling to keep up with demand.
For example, only one person does the brazing on the large copper tools (he doesn’t trust anyone else to do as good a job!) and parts for the Nunki weeder, our favourite hand held hoe, are running low meaning there is a shortage of these wonderful tools too.
The price increase post-Brexit is small but we hope you understand it is no longer possible to keep them at such a great low price. We hope you will still find this new cost excellent value, as we want you to buy and use these tools for a long long time – copper tools are the best!
Update – Take a look at where you can get copper tools these days!
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 …
The Henderson, Topiary Art Interview on Instagram
In a suit… eek! View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Henderson (@thehenderson_hk)
Topiary, The Art Garden at The Henderson
The Art Garden at The Henderson in Hong-Kong has now opened to the public. I joined the project last March, to work with Gillespies Landscape Architects on the topiary that had been designed for the Art Garden, which gives a calm, green space below the extraordinary Henderson skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The garden has been designed with butterflies in mind, so lots of nectar plants, and has other art projects and installations within its footprint. The history of the site is interesting too – it was originally the first cricket ground in Hong-Kong! So still a green space….! …