The quest for clean lines. The landscape architect Mien Ruys had a significant impact on the development of garden design over a long period of time. She was one of the first in the Netherlands - and certainly the first female garden designer - to recognise the importance of the integration of her craft with architecture. Mien Ruys played an active role in this integration, motivated by the socialist and feminist movement of which she was a part in the 1930s. The insights that she formulated in her designs for private and public gardens concerning the function and purpose of garden and landscape design seem thought-provoking enough to be worthy of further analysis. Her ideas had an impact on discourse on these subjects within her area of expertise, as is apparent from debate within the early 20th-century architectural movements ‘the 8’ in Amsterdam, and ‘Opbouw’ (‘Reconstruction’) in Rotterdam.

Another important aspect of Mien Ruys’ work is that she played a significant role in the development of plant choice, which had been considered of lesser importance until then. Mien Ruys made garden owners aware of the spatial effect and the beauty of shade-loving plants, foliage plants, and plants with decorative fruits and seed pods in a period in which colourful flower beds were still the norm. She refined the English 'mixed border' in her very own way and was the first to come up with the idea of standardised or ready-made borders in the early 1950s, which meant that high-quality and consistent planting became accessible for a broader public. Mien Ruys expressed her vision in numerous publications, such as the classic Het vaste plantenboek (‘Perennials') in 1950, Van vensterbank tot landschap ('From windowsill to landscape') in 1982, and the garden magazine Onze Eigen Tuin (‘Our own garden'), which is still published today and which she founded with her husband Theo Moussault in 1954. Throughout her life, she tried and tested the use of plants and materials in her trial garden in Dedemsvaart in the Netherlands, at the Moerheim nursery, founded by her father Bonne Ruys, to see whether these were suitable for use in her designs. She had an important influence on garden design for many decades through her innovative use of both of these elements.

This book offers an integrated picture of the life and work of Mien Ruys. The main objective of the book is to disseminate knowledge of her work. The book includes an oeuvre list of all her famous work and a number of representative projects are described extensively. Mien Ruys' oeuvre was interpreted on the basis of both historical data and contemporary knowledge about garden design and its history.

The quest for clean lines. The landscape architect Mien Ruys had a significant impact on the development of garden design over a long period of time. She was one of the first in the Netherlands - and certainly the first female garden designer - to recognise the importance of the integration of her craft with architecture. Mien Ruys played an active role in this integration, motivated by the socialist and feminist movement of which she was a part in the 1930s. The insights that she formulated in her designs for private and public gardens concerning the function and purpose of garden and landscape design seem thought-provoking enough to be worthy of further analysis. Her ideas had an impact on discourse on these subjects within her area of expertise, as is apparent from debate within the early 20th-century architectural movements ‘the 8’ in Amsterdam, and ‘Opbouw’ (‘Reconstruction’) in Rotterdam.

Another important aspect of Mien Ruys’ work is that she played a significant role in the development of plant choice, which had been considered of lesser importance until then. Mien Ruys made garden owners aware of the spatial effect and the beauty of shade-loving plants, foliage plants, and plants with decorative fruits and seed pods in a period in which colourful flower beds were still the norm. She refined the English 'mixed border' in her very own way and was the first to come up with the idea of standardised or ready-made borders in the early 1950s, which meant that high-quality and consistent planting became accessible for a broader public. Mien Ruys expressed her vision in numerous publications, such as the classic Het vaste plantenboek (‘Perennials') in 1950, Van vensterbank tot landschap ('From windowsill to landscape') in 1982, and the garden magazine Onze Eigen Tuin (‘Our own garden'), which is still published today and which she founded with her husband Theo Moussault in 1954. Throughout her life, she tried and tested the use of plants and materials in her trial garden in Dedemsvaart in the Netherlands, at the Moerheim nursery, founded by her father Bonne Ruys, to see whether these were suitable for use in her designs. She had an important influence on garden design for many decades through her innovative use of both of these elements.

This book offers an integrated picture of the life and work of Mien Ruys. The main objective of the book is to disseminate knowledge of her work. The book includes an oeuvre list of all her famous work and a number of representative projects are described extensively. Mien Ruys' oeuvre was interpreted on the basis of both historical data and contemporary knowledge about garden design and its history.