The hawthorn was a gift to us from the birds. It was not there when we bought the house in 1975. Some years later I spotted the seedling amongst the border plants and decided to weed the plants and not the hawthorn. That decision was a wise one and the tree is now a focal point for a lot of bird activity. I control it's size by minimal pruning.

I have planted wild plants (cultivated) below the tree. These include wild garlic, snowdrops, bluebells, violets and lesser celandine.

I am gradually extending my use of native plants in the garden, especially in the border and around the ponds.

There are several small log piles along the border. This is the most recent addition. The lowest logs in the pile are buried in the ground and some soil was put between the layers as well.

A couple of the older piles are quite well rotted now.