THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Walk in the Woods
During the month of May the Tree Council are promoting ‘Walk in the Woods’ – encouraging people to go out and enjoy trees and woodlands across the UK (you have the time to do this too… remember, there is a bank holiday on Monday!)
The Tree Council are a great charity and Modern Mint are proud to support them. Director Darren Lerigo is even a tree warden for St Andrew’s ward in Chelmsford!
“We have such a diverse treescape in the UK but we don’t always appreciate how fortunate we are” said Pauline Buchanan Black, Director-General of The Tree Council.
So see for yourself the difference trees make – put your walking shoes on in May and go for a walk in the woods.
More about Trees…
The Secret Life of Trees: How They Live and Why They Matter (Penguin Press Science)
Brought By Bike – Topiary Making
Brought By Bike is an excellent website I found last month, where businesses offer their services by (of course) bicycle. Modern Mint and my topiary work is now live on the site offering my topiary services, via bike, to the following two postcodes – CM1 CM2 Now I can imagine I will need to borrow a ladder should anyone have a larger shrub, but most town gardens in the Chelmsford area have a need not just for privacy but to let light into the house… so a balance must be struck when shaping hedges and shrubs to cover both needs. …
Transforming Topiary
Transforming Topiary – a video made for the European Boxwood And Topiary Society by Charlotte Molesworth and I, in her garden. We take a dog topiary and work out how to update it, turning it into a bird. Worth a watch I think, and hopefully useful to you! You can see more of my clipping on the topiary page. Or read my Spring 2021 Topiary Provocation here.
Phillyrea From 1682
Phillyrea is one of my favourite plants for topiary. I have been using it for quite a few years as a specimen shrub, mostly due to the fact it clips well and has a tough habit – all good characteristics for a topiary plant. It also has a reputation for being an excellent nectar source for bees… Read more about Phillyrea here. Mentioning this to Malcolm Thicke, a market garden historian and writer, he sent me a some photos of topiary and phillyrea mentioned by John Worlidge in Systema Horticulturae from 1682…. incredible! He also mentioned to me that in …