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The cottage at Prickwillow stands in a sixth of an acre of garden. While Stan was still working and we could only visit every second weekend this was quite a problem. The front lawn made way for roses, but weeding was a nightmare, so large areas of paving were introduced and most of the roses were replaced by shrubs, small trees, and groundcover. A large section beyond the gravel drive on the North side of the house has become a mini-wood, with assorted conifers, a False Acacia, Lilac tree, White Poplars, Flowering Currant, Forsythia and other shrubs, with Spurge, Lemon Balm, Sedge and Mint establishing among them to combat the more pernicious weeds. Behind a Snowberry hedge there are three Apple trees, struggling Black and Red Currants and the odd Gooseberry bush. The area behind the house is for the butterflies - loads of nettles!
In the picture you can see the front garden (looking to the East) with the river bank, across a narrow lane, in the background. In the Fens all the rivers flow between man-made banks, and much of the local countryside is at or below sea level.
