THE MODERN MINT BLOG

Jun24

Wild Flower Patch – Southend-on-Sea

Southend's Wildflowers
Southend’s Wildflowers

This picture was taken by Simon from South East Essex Organic Gardeners… he said, “(if you) haven’t seen it, there is a pocket place of wild flower patch running riot around the back of the (old) Public Library car park in Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea. Take a look – it makes my day (every day)!”

Poppies, Southend
Poppies, Southend

It would warm our heart to see this everyday – and don’t forget, you can have it too, if you take up a place on our Ten Meadows project.

Or if you’d like to do your own research on meadows, we recommend you check out this book from Amazon…

Happy meadow making!

Jan24

10 Years Of Modern Mint

On Valentine’s day this year (2024) Modern Mint, the company I started when I moved to Essex to explore a fresh, contemporary approach to gardening, will be 10 years old. The cliche is time flies… but it does! So much has happened in a decade, from studying topiary with Charlotte Molesworth, to clipping all over the UK (and eventually in the USA and Sweden) to selling shears and secateurs at garden shows and hiding away my reticence to give talks about gardening and topiary to Horticultural Societies across the UK. Ten years feels a good time to mark a new …

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Nov21

Garden Masterclass Trailer – The Modern Topiarist

In 2022 I did a free video for Garden Masterclass, the Annie Guilfoyle and Noel Kingsley run website that is a treasure trove of the great and good of the horticultural world – well worth looking through all the wonderful talks they have available, like meadow-maker James Hitchmough or nurserywoman Rosy Hardy. They are certainly inspirational! Perfect for watching and dreaming up new ideas during the winter months… As a follow-up to my Topiary Provocations video (which you can see on Youtube for free) I was asked to do a video for their Masterclass series on how to make topiary. …

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Jun19

Charlotte Molesworth’s Garden In The FT

The lovely garden of my mentor Charlotte Molesworth is featured here in the Financial Times in the last week or so… She has been interviewed lots of times but I thought this was a particularly great piece, with some photos done at unusual angles and different parts… so well worth a read. For more on topiary by Charlotte Molesworth…