THE MODERN MINT BLOG
I am running a ‘Topiary Provocation’ for garden designers, via Zoom, over the next few weeks.
Dates are:
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
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….! …