BRITAIN'S busiest gardener has revealed he spends 3 hours a night tending to his 2,000 flowers.
Shaun Schroeder, 60, delights neighbours every year with his stunning multi-coloured garden in Bristol that boasts 200 hanging baskets.
Shaun, a demolition supervisor, plants everything in one whirlwind week in May so everything blooms at the same time around late July.
The grandad-of-two got into gardening during lockdown and found himself hooked – and this year his garden is better than ever.
People from all over Bristol have flocked to see his hard work with some even posting notes praising his beautiful garden through his letterbox.
Shaun budgets around £1,500 per year for materials to spruce up his property which includes all plants, compost, fertiliser, pots and tools.
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When he gets home from work he spends between two and three hours in the garden planting, tending, dead-heading and watering – as well as all his time on weekends.
Speaking to BristolLive, Shaun said: "The garden is in full bloom at the minute – this year the 200 hanging baskets are looking tip-top!
"I actually planted 199 to start with but as soon as I counted them, I had to plant one more to make the round figure. The rain this summer has done wonders for the lawn – it's as green as can be.
"The older I get, the harder work it is to keep on top of everything, but it's such a lovely job.
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"It just de-stresses me getting out in the garden after a hard day at work – even if just to look at it. But it's not just for me, I do it so everyone else can enjoy it too."
Shaun spends all summer maintaining his blooms with such care that he even removes every slug and snail by hand to protect his beloved plants.
The green-fingered grandad, who lives with wife Jan Schroeder, 59, added: "I'm lucky I have an understanding wife who lets me spend all weekend in the garden!"
Shaun always gardened in his modest 4m wide garden but it became his passion during lockdown when people began to notice it more.
He would get people pass and tell him the garden "brightened up the doom and gloom" during lockdowns which spurred him on.
Now, the keen gardener books a week off work in May every year to have a solid seven days of planting ready for summer.
This year saw him top his personal records with over 2,000 petunias, begonias, fuchsias, calibrachoas, impatiens, geraniums, lobelias and verbena.
Shaun said that with costs rising, plants have become more expensive, but he's tackled that by doing more cuttings rather than buying them all new.
Around 500 of the 2,000 plants in his garden this year were taken from last year's cuttings.
Several years on from lockdown, Shaun's main motivator remains to give others a lovely display to look at.
The avid gardener added: "A lot of the residents around Whitchurch take detours to go past my garden.
"They love to come up and have a look at it and I'm always willing to show them around too if they want.
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"Some walk by in the evenings and tell me it looks fabulous and people are always knocking on the door.
"I run a gardening Facebook group, but I've never tried to profit from anything – I just do my gardening so everyone else can enjoy it."
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