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!
10 Years Of Modern Mint
On Valentine’s day this year (2024) Modern Mint, the company I started when I moved to Essex to explore a fresh, contemporary approach to gardening, will be 10 years old. The cliche is time flies… but it does! So much has happened in a decade, from studying topiary with Charlotte Molesworth, to clipping all over the UK (and eventually in the USA and Sweden) to selling shears and secateurs at garden shows and hiding away my reticence to give talks about gardening and topiary to Horticultural Societies across the UK. Ten years feels a good time to mark a new …
Garden Masterclass Trailer – The Modern Topiarist
In 2022 I did a free video for Garden Masterclass, the Annie Guilfoyle and Noel Kingsley run website that is a treasure trove of the great and good of the horticultural world – well worth looking through all the wonderful talks they have available, like meadow-maker James Hitchmough or nurserywoman Rosy Hardy. They are certainly inspirational! Perfect for watching and dreaming up new ideas during the winter months… As a follow-up to my Topiary Provocations video (which you can see on Youtube for free) I was asked to do a video for their Masterclass series on how to make topiary. …
Charlotte Molesworth’s Garden In The FT
The lovely garden of my mentor Charlotte Molesworth is featured here in the Financial Times in the last week or so… She has been interviewed lots of times but I thought this was a particularly great piece, with some photos done at unusual angles and different parts… so well worth a read. For more on topiary by Charlotte Molesworth…