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Twenty-two years ago when Hew and Joanna Blair bought Leadervale House, their Georgian villa overlooking the Leader Valley in Berwickshire, Hew had no intention of gardening the one-acre walled garden at the foot of the slope by the River Leader. Previously used for schooling horses and grazing sheep, its walls were crumbling and the old, ivy-covered coach house, the most convenient point of entry to the garden, was totally derelict. Much better, thought Hew, to plant a garden close to the house.

At first, this seemed like the obvious answer. Leadervale with its graceful stone steps and elegant Ionic portico creates a striking setting. It was built in 1780 by Sir James Wright, the last Royal Governor of the state of Georgia, in the parkland of the neighbouring mansion,