THE MODERN MINT BLOG

Mar15

Topiary Provocation For Garden Designers

I am running a ‘Topiary Provocation’ for garden designers, via Zoom, over the next few weeks.

organic topiary snow

Dates are:

Tuesday 23rd March, 10am

Wednesday 24th March 7.30pm

Thursday 8th April, 7.30pm

The ‘provocation’ is for garden designers anywhere in the world, is free to join and will last about 45 minutes.

Places are limited to 12 per session, as I want to make sure we can share ideas about topiary and how it can be used (and managed) in a modern garden – especially if skill level and maintenance time is low.

I hope that I can provoke a discussion around ‘green architecture’ and the role it plays, whether in capturing carbon, providing havens for wildlife, adding a skeleton to a garden or contrasting weight to the lighter texture of flowers.

I also want to know if there is a trend or leaning towards certain shapes, and what shapes and designs we can begin using in the future.

Finally, we will look at maintenance and the effect of pests and diseases on topiary, especially boxwood…

The ‘provocation’ should offer up exciting ideas for the use of topiary in modern gardens, and if you are a garden designer then please do book your spot on one of the dates – and I look forward to meeting you.

Darren, Topiary Artist (see some of my work here…)

Book A Free Ticket Here

Feb10

Why I Wrote The Book Modern Topiary

I have written this book, Modern Topiary, because I wanted a collation of useful information that would give people access to everything they need to know in order to start making topiary. Topiary is an amazing (and niche) line of work to follow – amazing because it offers up opportunities to travel all over the world, making gardens, meeting people… but also, the work is intensely physical, hands-on, yet requires creative thinking in order to solve the puzzle of how to make the shapes you want. This mixture of the craft and the art is what I love the most …

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Jan30

Buxus the Norfolk Terrier In Modern Topiary Book

This is Buxus, our Norfolk Terrier, who I acknowledge in the acknowledgments of the book of Modern Topiary. The book of Modern Topiary can be read, for free, here. There you go. Buxus the dog on ‘doorstep duty’ at a friend’s house in Edinburgh. For those asking what he looked like!

Jan30

What People Think Of Modern Topiary, The Book

Yesterday I put out the book – Modern Topiary – that I have spent the last six years writing. Download for free a pdf of Modern Topiary here. And what seems amazing to me, is that not only have people actually been reading it, but then responding to it. So below are a number of comments I have been sent from those who read it last night, and this morning…. “Brilliant read, exactly the right amount of info to take in and digest.” Rachel, a gardener “I love your book, the advice is so straightforward and your writing is so …

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