The 20-Minute Gardener: The Garden of Your Dreams Without Giving up Your Life, Your Job, or Your Sanity [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Marty Asher (Author), Tom Christopher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 1997

or those with only 20 minutes a day to spare, an uproariously funny, user-friendly audio that puts the fun back into gardening. Simultaneous hardcover release from Random House.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The 20-Minute Gardener eliminates the oft-heard excuse "I don't have time to have a garden" by providing guidelines on low-maintenance gardening. Read by authors Christopher (a horticulturist) and Asher (an editor), this abridged title contains tips on topics such as selecting tools, making compost, and dealing with weeds, all presented with a healthy dose of humor. Several 20-minute-per-day projects are detailed, including a nocturnal garden and a herb garden windowbox. From the 11 commandments of gardening to guidelines on shopping for plants, the anecdotes and tips are helpful as well as entertaining. Recommended.?Denise A. Garofalo, Mid-Hudson Lib. System, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This guide to low-maintenance organic-gardening techniques contains a variety of inexpensive, 20-minute projects for gardeners with an aversion to work. They include building a toolshed and a compost bin, planting a rosebush from cuttings, creating a water garden and a window box, and erecting a scarecrow. Writing in a humorous style, the authors offer advice on choosing the right plants, getting rid of pests, passing off the hard work to others (professional gardeners, teenagers, and landscape maintenance contractors), hassle-free shopping for plants, and one-hour-a-year weeding (Asher sips a martini while weeding). The authors' conclusion is that if you're not having fun, you're doing something wrong. George Cohen --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio (January 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679458204
• ISBN-13: 978-0679458203
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,812,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Different and Intriguing Approach to Gardening, May 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The 20-Minute Gardener: The Garden of Your Dreams Without Giving up Your Life, Your Job, or Your Sanity (Hardcover)

The most valuable thing I got out of this book was the change of attitude in gardening. I used to think that if an exotic and fragile plant didn't thrive in my garden, it was because I didn't treat it right (e.g. too much/too little sun, too much/too little water, not planting the seed on the exact day at the exact depth, etc., etc.) but this book advocates not coddling one's plants. After all, who has time for that unless one is a full-time horticulturalist? Thanks to this book, I now have a much more relaxed attitude toward gardening so that I can actually ENJOY it. It is also peppered with 20-minute projects, each of which may or may not be interesting or doable to a certain reader, but given the attitude of this book, I don't think the authors would be insulted if one did none of them (I am going to try some of them, though.) This book is fun to read even if one does no more gardening than keep a pot of houseplant. There is also some useful information on weeding, insect control, etc. I liked their mostly organic approach to these things, too. It is NOT a comprehensive guide to gardening, and is not meant to be. If that is what one needs, there is plenty available out there. The message here is 'Work smart, not hard, relax, and have fun.'

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not only informative, but damn funny!, May 30, 2002

By 

Swinger in SoCal "Bookmaven" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 20-Minute Gardener: The Garden of Your Dreams Without Giving up Your Life, Your Job, or Your Sanity (Hardcover)

These guys should've been stand-up comedians...instead, they are articulate, knowledgeable, outspoken advocates of stress-free, fun gardening. If you're looking for a way to keep your sanity AND have a beautiful yard, this is the book for you. If you want one of those full-color, photo-filled coffeetable gardening books that only uses the Latin names for plants (and assumes you have no life other than gardening) move on. My favorite chapter is "Peter Rabbit Had It Coming"!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars take it in the spirit in which it is given, July 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The 20-Minute Gardener: The Garden of Your Dreams Without Giving up Your Life, Your Job, or Your Sanity (Paperback)

This book outlines an attitude toward gardening: grow things that you like and that are suited to your area. It sometimes has an odd perception of what counts as a 20 minute project. For example, digging a two foot (!) deep bed, enriching the soil, and planting rose cuttings is takes more than 20 minutes, no matter how much amphetamines you take. But they are right to assert that gardening should be fun, anyone can garden, and we should grow things that, well, GROW. BTW, I disagree with the reviewer who thinks that taking a cutting from an abandoned plant is stealing. Digging up the plant is stealing. Taking a cutting is propogation, not at all harmful to the parent plant. I read a lot of techinical garden books. I found this book a pleasant change of pace, like a chat about gardening.