- .Nick Wilson, 57, has spent 20 years creating his dream garden in Yorkshire
- .It takes the keen gardener eight hours to maintain it every single week
- .He spent £2,000 constructing a 'jungle lodge' and £150 a year on new plants
With its tropical banana trees, bamboos and palms, it may look like a Brazilian jungle - but these pictures are actually of a secret garden in the centre of Leeds.
Software salesman Nick Wilson, 57, has spent 20 years creating this jaw-dropping jungle garden complete with tropical plants connected by timber walkways and ponds filled with Koi carp in his backyard.
When Mr Wilson moved in to his home in Leeds, West Yorkshire, the 85ft by 30ft garden was just a plain lawn stretching from the house to the hedge.
But the dedicated gardener has spent the past two decades and thousands of pounds transforming it into a tropical paradise.
Secret garden: Nick Wilson, 57, has created this stunning jungle garden at his home in Leeds, Yorkshire
Where the wild things are: The tropical garden is filled with banana trees, bamboo plants and palm trees
The 57-year-old, who spends around eight hours a week maintaining his beautiful garden during the summer, said: 'I'm not overly bothered about mowing lawns. I had always wanted a garden with wooden walkways and Koi carp and lush planting.'
One of his biggest investments was a £2,000 thatched 'Jungle Lodge' he constructed in 2007. He also spends around £150 every spring adding new plants and maintaining the wooden walkways.
But the married father-of-one insists that, despite West Yorkshire not having the sunniest climate, his plants weather the British winters surprisingly well.
Although Mr Wilson admits he has to transfer his banana plants which include a hardy Abyssinian specimen which sprouts over the winter months, inside during the coldest months to prevent them from being killed in the snow and frost.
He also has an assortment of bamboos, different types of palm trees and a variety of ferns.
He says his ferns and his big leaved plants, gunneras and hostas, combine to give the amazing tropical effect at the back of his ordinary mid-1950s semi-detached home.
The tropical garden even has a wooden hut in the middle of it where Mr Wilson can entertain his guests
The best things are worth waiting for: Nick Wilson shows his neighbour Sue Tuffin around the garden which has taken him 20 years to complete
Adapting: Despite temperatures in Yorkshire often dropping below freezing in the winter months, Mr Wilson says his tropical plants manage to British weather surprisingly well
Mr Wilson said: 'I moved in here about 25 years ago and I've been changing it, slowly remodelling it, for 20 odd years now.
'It would be difficult to put a figure on how much its' cost so far because I haven't kept a tally over the years. But I do something new on it each year.
The monthly upkeep's not a lot but it does take a lot of time - probably about eight hours a week, pruning, clipping and picking things up.
'There is a small annual spend in May, when we put some standard English bedding in like geraniums and New Guinea hybrids that have the brilliant red tropical colours.
'The whole thing is done really so in the spring I would maybe spend 100-150 pounds just on the upkeep. The main framework is there.'
He added that there is always something else to do and next year he will be putting a tree platform in a laurel tree at the back of the garden.
Towering over the jungle: Nick Wilson's outdoor hut has views across his garden
Under construction: Nick Wilson has spent years - and thousands of pounds - constructing his garden paradise
He said: 'There is no special skill, its basic carpentry skills, a bit of pond digging and digging and putting plants in.'
Mr Wilson's garden is going on show on Sunday as part of 26 great green spaces in the Roundhay Gardens Ideas Trail.
The event, organised by Roundhay Environmental Action Project (REAP), aims to inspire hundreds of visitors by showcasing the huge variety of options available when it comes to transforming a piece of land, no matter the shape or size.
The gardens range from areas designed to attract wildlife to those boasting bonsai trees, poly tunnels, hens, fruit trees, sculptures, wildflowers, artwork, play areas and vegetable patches.
Sue Tuffin, from REAP's gardening group said: 'It's not about perfect gardens, it's about sharing ideas. 'We are trying to show people the whole range of things you can do in a suburban garden, that you don't need a big estate to grow some of your own food, to keep chickens and to have a play space for your children and somewhere to entertain visitors.'
Transformation: The keen gardener used wooden blanks and poles to give his paradise an authentic jungle feel
Early stages: The hut is pictured halfway through being constructed before the roof was put on top of it
Hard graft: A small digger in the back of Mr Wilson's garden levels the ground so the foundations of his hut can be laid down
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