The Gardens of Mien Ruys: Strong Design, Lush Planting, and the Origins of the Modernist Garden

A celebration of 100 years of the Mien Ruys Gardens, where legendary designer Mien Ruys conducted her lifetime of experimentations and innovations that have deeply informed today's naturalistic gardening movement. Widely considered the Mother of the Modernist garden, Mien Ruys (1904-1999) is one of the most influential gardeners and landscape architects of the 20th Century.The Gardens of Mien Ruys is the first authorized book in English to discuss her life, influence, process, and designs, written by the head of the Mien Ruys Gardens who continues to steward Ruys's horticultural legacy. Part illustrated biography and part garden case study, this book is an important link to history that can help us put into context a future of gardening in line with nature, as informed by a strong, feminist leader.Ruys worked hard to break down the elitism of gardening, and was a woman far ahead of her time. She is known best for her use of small spaces, designing gardens without large lawns, and using