Yards and Stripes

Crocodile Dundee with a lawn mower . . .

The rest of the exhibition was largely uneventful, as I spent most of the time perched on a stool, racking my brain as to how on earth you put stripes on a lawn.

A clumsy Australian is living in New York, when he decides to start a gardening business in the United States.

He doesn't know a weed from a wisteria, but relocates to Greenwich, Connecticut, where he rents an apartment, buys some equipment and promptly chops down the wrong tree.

Yards and Stripes is the true story of a recently divorced, forty-something Aussie, who stumbles across the opportunity to launch a successful Australian lawn care and landscaping franchise in the US.

He has no experience or interest in gardening, but excited at the prospect of building a nationwide franchise network; thinks to himself "How hard could it be?"

Struggling to deal with banks, suppliers and the odd angry neighbor, we follow his often hilarious and always eventful journey, as he strives against all odds, to establish his business.

We soon learn that stinging nettles and shorts are not a good mix, as we are introduced to a host of colorful characters, such as Mad Annie Marsh, Nasty Mrs. Phillips and the Trash Monster.

If you have ever thought "I want to work for myself", or you simply enjoy tending to your own garden, you will love this wonderful memoir, described by readers as "laugh out loud funny" and "a book you must pack if travelling."

Get your copy now.