THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Waltham Place in Maidenhead is one of my favourite gardens of all time. The philosophy is to garden with nature, rather than against, so improving the soil and growing a diverse range of plants is placed at the heart of how to manage the space.
Through the European Boxwood and Topiary Society I arranged a talk by the garden team at Waltham Place. It has been recorded and put on Youtube so if you missed it live, you can watch it there and get a feel for what they are doing.
There are some extraordinary photos of the garden alongside those who have worked in it (as well as those who didn’t care for it at all!) and it is all soundtracked by the birds in the garden, who were singing the whole time the talk was going on.
Just to prove that this way of gardening enhances life for so many creatures.
Do watch the talk on Waltham Place here on Youtube.
During the talk the garden team spoke about plants that were able to resist being predated by rabbit and deer. This is based on the list the designer and plantsman Henk Gerritsen (another favourite of mine, for his brilliant book Essay On Gardening) made when he came to work on the garden and give it some direction.
The list is below, so do take a look if you are after plants that are resilient to animals nibbling them…
- Cornus sibirica
- Romneya coulteri
- Euphorbia palustris
- Rheum palmatum ‘Atrosanguineum’
- Helleborus argutifolius
- Aconitum
- Bergenia
- Thalictrum
- Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Roseum’
- Cephalaria gigantea
- Miscanthus ‘Malepartus’
- Ranunculus aconitifolius
- Salvia glutinosa
Do visit Waltham Place if you get a chance (they do a walk with the gardener one day a week.) It is an extraordinary place.
And for more about me, see my topiary work here.
Topiary Workshop 2026 at Waltham Place
The next topiary workshop I will be teaching is now live on the website and can be booked! Just visit Waltham Place to get a ticket for the Topiary Workshop I will be teaching on Friday September 4th at Waltham Place. Myself and Chris Poole of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society (Buxus expert! Like, he knows everything there is to know about the plant! So worth booking just to tap into his knowledge….!) will be teaching here for the… fifth year in a row I think? The garden is a beautiful place to spend time clipping. We will teach …
Michael Gibson, New York Topiary Art!
In the New York Times earlier this year was a lovely interview with Michael Gibson, who makes topiary and gardens in New York. The article is here but you may not have access… however, search the internet, find it and have a read. It is great! His philosophy of pruning is especially worth it… Sacred geometry in topiary? Yes please! What a phrase! I think (and speak) of balance, of major and minor, of leaf volume… but sacred geometry might well make it into my topiary teaching lexicon! And the idea of directional trimming? I realise I do this, but …
Topiary Library
I do a lot of teaching topiary. I had the opportunity from my mentor, Charlotte Molesworth, to work on her garden and experiment and test techniques and generally try making shapes without the worry of failure, or being fired, or being sued and run out of business for getting it wrong. This opportunity was essential (along with Charlotte’s insistance that pruning standards had to be high!) in becoming better at topiary. When I look around the world at our cultural vitamins, what we see in the media day in and day out, I see the stupidest and grossest of people …