Gardening on the edge
TOM and Mary Hoblyn bought Mansard House 18 years ago, when they fell in love with the brick-built Dutch-gabled house and its ramshackle plot of land. The tall 17th-century building is on a slight hill, with its back to the thriving and pretty village of Bardwell, peering out towards the water meadows that lie beyond. This is deepest Suffolk and the view opens out onto marsh with tall stands of 100-year-old coppiced alders.
The Hoblyns’ 2½ acres was a field deep in brambles and weeds. To begin, they established formal areas near the house, including a black-lined
