Frank and Marjorie Lawley have spent almost 40 years at Herterton House, a 16th century farmhouse on the Wallington Estate, near Cambo (birthplace of Capability Brown) in Northumberland in the North of England. When they leased Herterton from the National Trust in 1976, the Lawleys took on a series of derelict farm buildings. This highly original and personal book describes in detail how, with patience and passion, they restored Herterton House and created an exquisite and unique garden. As well as discussing the practicalities involved, it also describes the influences and the lifetime of thinking behind their achievement. Within its mere acre, the garden at Herterton House provides more visual interest and more interesting plants (plants you can also buy from its small nursery) than many gardens 20 times its size. It also stimulates visitors to think about what plants to use and how to use them, about the history of English gardens, about the relation of the past to the present, and about the relation of a garden to the landscape around it. This stunning book records and celebrates Frank and Marjorie's achievement over four decades at Herterton House. With photographs by Val Corbett and an introduction by Charles Quest-Ritson.

Frank Lawley and his wife have spent the past four decades rescuing Herterton House near Wallington, a long-abandoned 16th century farmhouse, and designing, creating, and maintaining around it a new but appropriate country garden. Val Corbett is a freelance photographer based in the Lowther Valley on the eastern fringe of the Lake District. She is well known for her garden and landscape photography. Charles Quest-Ritson is a UK-based writer and journalist specializing in horticulture and social history.