This book is not just about the cultivation of plants but also about garden building. The inside dust jacket reads: "This book has a twofold purpose - to give pleasure as a thing of beauty, while also providing practical help to those making new gardens or intending to reconstruct old ones." Walling invites readers to consider that the main object of garden design is that the garden be a fit setting to the architecture of the house and that gardens should be a joy to live in. Two impressions were made of this edition, in 1944 and 1946.