Sheffield dad completely transforms his garden into tropical jungle with 100-foot palm trees
Not being able to travel the world due to his deathly fear of flying, a Sheffield dad has devoted half of his life to transforming the back garden of his house into an incredible ‘jungle’ with 100 foot tall palm trees.
By Rahmah Ghazali
Published 22nd Feb 2021, 11:53 GMT
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Dr Simon Olpin, 69 has been passionate about nature since he was a boy but his fear of flying meant he wasn’t able to see any jungles from different parts of the world.
Therefore, the clinical biochemist has brought the jungle to his suburban garden, after planting his first tree from a ‘small pot’ back in 1987.
Since then, his 8,000 square foot ‘jungle’ has grown to have more than 100 species of plants, with massive 100 foot palm trees which tower over the sprawling garden.
The ‘jungle’ started off as what he described as ‘blank canvas, which he said required a lot of ‘trial and error’ when he first moved to his home from Cambridge in 1987.
Father-of-three Dr Olpin said: “I’ve always been interested in animals particularly, when I was a little child. I was fascinated by everything that crept and crawled.
“When we moved to Sheffield I started to develop a more keen interest in exotic plants and we had a small garden which was a blank canvas.
Dr Olpin’s passion for plants and wildlife started when he was a child, but his love of the exotic came from a visit to The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall.
His first tree was an 18-inch Chinese windmill plant which he purchased from a university sale in 1987 - which now towers more than 100 feet over his house.
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