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The Gardens of Mien Ruys - a book review

I don't know how I missed her, but I was totally unfamiliar with Mien Ruys. A beautiful new book The Gardens of Mien Ruys details her life and work. Born in the Netherlands in 1904, she was the daughter of Bonne Ruys, who founded Moerheim Nursery in 1888. She grew up in a liberal atmosphere and encouraged to learn and study. She found great comfort in the natural world around her and learned all the plants in her father's nursery at a young age. After leaving school at the age of 19, she knew that she wanted to work in the garden center. The Moerheim Nursery, in addition to selling plants, had an on-site design studio where they published a detailed catalog and sold landscape design plans to customers. It was in the design studio where Ruys first began to work and she was soon encouraged to venture beyond her country and study abroad. Her father's connections helped her secure a traineeship with Wallace & Sons Nursery in Tunbridge Wells in England. There, she met Gertr...
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Fall projects

Fall is just around the corner – I can feel it in my bones. The cruel month of August is behind us and although September can be just as miserable, I sense a change in the air. More rain came yesterday – a long, slow one that lasted all morning – where was it when it was needed the most??? And while it is still pretty hot out, the nights are beginning to get a little cooler and the days are noticeably shorter. The light too is changing – what is it about this time of year that makes you want to just take a nap?

This has been a tough year for gardening and I’m a tad nervous about the fate of some plants in my garden. Even though they have weathered the late freeze, the drought and the heat, who knows if they will hold on through the winter? Time will tell.

My enthusiasm for gardening wanes considerably in late summer but it only takes that first bite in the air to get my batteries recharged. I have several projects on my plate for this fall and winter.

First I plan to do something about my long neglected front lawn. The grass is a pitiful hodgepodge of various types plus an assortment of weeds and bare spots. I want to reseed the entire area and I’ve settled on fescue, a grass that will stay green during the winter. It is used at the college where I work and it is very beautiful.



Next, this walkway in front of my patio has to be reworked! The stones used here are uneven and uncomfortable to walk on. I’m pulling these out and replacing them with larger, flatter stones and will once again attempt to kill the weeds growing between them. Pam, from Digging!, gave me some great ideas on this.



If that is not enough, I want a picket fence installed around my front yard, the foundation plantings in front of my house reworked and some type of pebble mosaic floor put down in my secret garden area (my creative juices are still brewing on this).

It never ends!
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  1. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2007 at 8:35 PM

    No, it never ends! And in the South, as you pointed out, fall is just the beginning. Your projects sound great. I've got a few of my own brewing. Another cold front, and I won't be able to wait any longer.

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  2. Allan S.September 13, 2007 at 3:38 PM

    Any advice on a good book or online resource for someone just getting into gardening? I'm in CT and have a good size front lawn and backyard and I'm clueless about what I have and what I can do with it. Also, what should I do to get the yard prepped for the winter. New to all of this.

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  3. Annie in AustinSeptember 14, 2007 at 7:57 AM

    Once we drop from the 90's to the 80's Austinites feel like gardening again, too. You have a lot of projects in mind, and the new walkway should make an enormous difference - good luck with it, Phillip!

    I wonder how many gardeners have an area we think of as our Secret Garden? You have one, I have one - several of my friends have such a spot, too. Perhaps creating a Secret Garden is one of the core romances of being a gardener.

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  4. LostRosesSeptember 15, 2007 at 9:46 PM

    Good thing your battery is getting recharged, Phillip, with all the projects you have in mind! All great ideas, especially the larger stones for the walkway. That should look great. I love to plan and dream about my garden, but unlike you I lose my enthusiasm in the fall and don't get any battery charge till next spring!

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  5. chuck b.September 16, 2007 at 11:01 AM

    I missed this post somehow. What a great space you have! Good luck with everything and keep us posted.

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  6. KC MO Garden GuySeptember 22, 2007 at 7:46 AM

    Big plans Phillip but I am sure you will get them all done. I am like lostroses my gardening enthusiasm is mostly gone now. I am working on steps up the hill on the north side of the house but it is a slow process. Good Luck!!!
    Keep us posted on the progress.

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