Meet Britain's Youngest Garden Enthusiast: The Adorable Three Year Old Paid In Chocolate For 'Mowing' His Neighbours' Lawns - Using His Adorable Toy Flymo Mower
A three-year-old from Cheshire is melting hearts after turning his fascination with lawnmowers into a committed gardening hobby.
Adorable Rio Brown, who lives with his mum Sophie, aged 30, dad Jordan, aged 33 and big sister Theia, aged six, in Sandbach, Cheshire, developed a sweet obsession with Flymo's iconic orange lawnmowers after discovering Australian YouTuber Scott Richmond, better known as Ozzie, whose gardening and nature adventure videos regularly feature a bright orange lawnmower.
The toddler’s mum says he was ‘utterly delighted’ when, during a family trip to B&Q, he spotted a display of Flymo’s iconic orange mowers – just like those he’d seen in Ozzie’s videos.
He insisted Sophie snapped a picture, in which he can be seen smiling from ear to ear with both thumbs up. Sophie shared the picture with British gardening and lawncare experts Flymo via Instagram and was moved when the brand responded by gifting Rio his very own Flymo toy mower.
He has since been obsessed with ‘mowing’ the lawn at home and in his local neighbourhood, with his neighbours compensating his meticulous service with chocolate.
Sophie, who shared Rio’s fascination online, said: “He’s absolutely obsessed with Flymo and loves being in the garden more than anything in the world.
“Obviously he’s far too little to operate a real lawnmower, so I do the actual mowing whilst he follows along with his toy mower.
“He always lays down on the grass when I’ve finished mowing, analysing the length of the lawn to ensure I've done an adequate job!
“He’s so obsessed with us mowing the lawn that we’ve actually run out of grass in our own garden. So, with his little toy mower in tow, he’s been knocking at the neighbours’ houses and ‘mowing’ their lawns for them. They absolutely love it; they’ve been so accommodating and even pay him in chocolate for all his hard work.
“We have a professional gardener who covers the local area, but the neighbours have been joking around, commenting that we don’t need him anymore because there’s no man better than Rio for the job.
“I can’t explain how happy this lovely gift from Flymo has made him. He is absolutely delighted; he’s the happiest little boy in the world thanks to their kindness.
“Since being tiny, Rio has been mower mad and loves absolutely anything to do with the garden. For his birthday, he even asked for a strimmer or, as he calls it, a weed whacker. I think it’s so important to encourage his work ethic and enthusiasm for the outdoors.
“His nursery is based on a farm, and every single day he insists on taking his toy mower or strimmer with him and quickly sets to work, mowing the farmland. He’s so committed that he even gets down on the floor to check the length of the grass. It’s so adorable.
“My mum and dad live in the countryside and have four of Flymo’s robot mowers. He loves trying to spot them and could honestly sit watching them for hours. He even rewards his own immense mowing efforts with a refreshing cuppa in his favourite orange Flymo mug!
“If he doesn’t work for Flymo when he’s older, I’ll be very surprised!”
Sarah Bentham, UK Marketing Manager at Flymo, said: “It has warmed our hearts to see the adorable pictures of our biggest fan, Rio, beside our product display in B&Q.
“At Flymo, we are incredibly passionate about inspiring and encouraging the next generation of gardeners, and it was a pleasure to do our bit to nurture Rio’s natural love for nature and big outdoor adventures.
“We’re excited to see what the future holds for Rio, he clearly has a very bright future ahead of him.”
