THE MODERN MINT BLOG
I will be teaching a Topiary Skills Workshop at Waltham Place in September 2023!
For more information and to book your spot on the course do visit the Waltham Place website.
In this 3 hour course you will learn everything you need to know about pruning and making topiary – as well as getting some practise in as well!
No experience necessary, just a positive attitude and a pair of shears needed… I can help you sharpen and clean everything up before we begin, so don’t panic if your tools are a little rough!
During the session you will:
- Learn about the basic tools you need for topiary, how to look after them and what to do with pests on your boxwood.
- Take a tour of the garden to see which plants can be used and what it is possible to do with them
- Learn the right technique for clipping
- Get clipping – practise makes perfect!
Topiary should be fun and practical so come prepared to do some pruning – it is, after all, the best way to learn.
And tell your friends about the course. The garden is magnificent, so what could be better than a wander around with friends, then doing something creative? (Having a glass of wine and wandering around with friends? Ok, that is better.. but not going to happen when using sharp tools… for this course, anyway…)
Book a place now on the Topiary Skills course at Waltham Place.
EBTS Boxwood Growers Forum
Through the European Boxwood and Topiary Society I worked with Chris Poole and Sue Mesher, members of the EBTS board, and we set up a Boxwood Growers Forum. This was to discuss how to make sure this wonderful topiary plant stays in the public conscioussness – we know many growers, suppliers and distributors have stopped selling it as the cost of replacing boxwood that has blight, or is nibbled by the boxwood caterpillar, makes it unviable to offer to clients and gardeners. But Boxwood is a phoenix plant, and there are ways to deal with the problems associated with Buxus. …
Modern Topiarist @ Garden Masterclass Poland
My video on Modern Topiary for Garden Masterclass has been translated into Polish, for the keen gardeners (and happy pruners!) of Garedn Masterclass in Poland. Tickets for the first showing and q and a were available here. But it will become available on the Garden Masterclass Poland website at some point in the near future – so if you are a keen clipper and want to know more, but speak Polish and not English, then I suggest you visit the website and get watching. (Of course, if you don’t speak English, you may not be able to read this…. hmmm… …
Topiary Hotline
The European Boxwood & Topiary Society are to run a Topiary Hotline for keen gardeners and people who love to clip. Date is tomorrow, April 16th 2024, and you can get a ticket for the Zoom meeting here – Topiary Hotline. Run by Chris Poole and myself, we set this up as an antidote to the huge amount of questions we have to answer about topiary throughout the summer. The plus is that their is an excitement around topiary and pruning. The problem is we need to help people in a better way… … so we will be giving people …