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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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More clean-up, pruning and transplanting

Freshly mown grass always makes me feel better!
 
The weather gods are being very kind this week. The weather here is glorious - sunny and in the 50s and no clouds whatsoever today although we woke up to a chilly 29 degrees and a big frost. The forecast for the remainder of the week only gets better. The best part of this is that I have most of the week free! I  have one more day to work at my winter job at Target and then I'm off to Alabama for a trip and following that, I will probably be starting back at Yard N' Garden Land for the gardening season. I'm thrilled to have so many days in between with some great weather.

The pruning chores continue. This morning after it warmed up a bit, I got out and started working on the border next to the street. Before -




And after -




The daffodils and crocus are blooming. Now that the grass is sheared away from them, you have a better look -






 My first grevillea has survived the winter nicely. I'm hoping that is will bloom this year -
Grevillea juniperina 'Low Red'
When cleaning up, you always come across plants that new relocating. These poor 'Hameln' grasses have been devoured by Ceanothus 'Vandenberg' -


 I moved them down a bit to a new location -


 Another victim of the ceanothus was this boulder -


Fortunately, this was one of the smaller ones and I managed to move it without killing myself. I relocated it about 5 feet down and positioned it closer to the road. You can see the hole where it was sitting to the left -



 It doesn't look big but don't let it fool you - it was heavy -


I cut back one of the buddleias ('Buzz Hott Raspberry') - this is the largest and I haven't had any problems with it reseeding. Before -




 and after -


Finally, I mowed the grass. This is the second time this year -


 Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Lisa at GreenbowFebruary 19, 2020 at 9:25 AM

    You have already MOWED not once but TWICE?? Crazy. You are lucky to have this wonderful window to work in the garden. I can hardly wait to get out there to do some plant shuffling. That rock looks very dense. Isn't it amazing how they sink down into the earth?! It is often very difficult to get them up out of the hole they sink into. I hope you had a two wheeler to move it. You don't want to hurt your back this early in the season. Love seeing your before and afters. I can see how much improved the areas look. I always seem to forget the befores. Have fun on your vacation.

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  2. Matthew - The Lents FarmerFebruary 19, 2020 at 3:31 PM

    I love the first lawn mow and edging of the grass! I know spring is right around the corner then! I've only mowed once already in 2020.

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  3. chavlinessFebruary 20, 2020 at 12:08 PM

    Ha ha, devoured plants and boulders. It happens sometimes; a reminder that all plants are constantly "on the move". Will you prune your Ceanothus after it blooms? I believe Ceanothus respond well to shaping while they are still young.

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