THE MODERN MINT BLOG
The Vegan Gardener is a new book by the brilliant garden writer John Walker, who you may better know as The Earth Friendly Gardener.
I came across John’s work and writing years ago now, and was always struck by his passion and how directly he follows his instinct for using gardening as a way to better the world.
His approach to living on this earth may be soft, light… but his writing is the opposite – hard, useful, straight talking advice on improving soils, not wasting sunlight and balancing garden predators with those who ‘prey’ on your plants.
I interviewed John for this blog and he spoke about how he began making his ‘bracken-riddled’ garden in North Wales. Please do take a read here.
Or go buy his new book – The Vegan Gardener – to learn how to use vegan-organic techniques to be as friendly as possible to the planet.
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….! …