Dad creates a jungle in his garden: How do green spaces help our mental health?

A green-fingered dad has taken his horticultural skills to the next level, transforming his back garden into an 'exotic jungle'.

Kris Swaine, 41, now enjoys basking in his suburban paradise so much that he is lucky enough to no longer feel the need to travel overseas, with 45ft eucalyptus trees, palms and bamboo all ready to be enjoyed on his doorstep.

The dad-of-four started the project around five years ago after picking up a small hardy banana plant from his local garden centre. He then went on to transform his 165ft by 30ft grassy plot at the back of his semi-detached home, in Wakefield, West Yorks, into a green haven full of tropical-looking plants.

Swaine even has an incredible chocolate vine, which smells just like cocoa, along with a wooden footbridge that sits above a tumbling rock waterfall.

"When you’re sitting in the jungle hut area surrounded by all the bamboo and grasses, it does feel like you’re on holiday – or in a much warmer climate," he says.

"There’s been no need in recent years to go overseas when you’ve got all the tropical plants and palm trees around us.

"And when we have nice weather, it does feel like you’re on holiday in the garden."

Read more: How house plants can ease anxiety and encourage happiness (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)

Local council worker Swaine purchased the property in 2023 with his wife, the pair drawn to its north-west facing garden, which backs onto farmland. After taking away two greenhouses and a shed at the end of the property, he laid down 30 tons of grit and topsoil.

Once the land was fertile, he planted hundreds of different types of flora, commonly found in the jungles of Borneo.

"It started with picking up a small hardy banana plant from the local garden centre and looking for unusual, exotic-looking plants that might grow outside," explains Swaine.

"I did draw out a plan for what I wanted the garden to look like – even before we started clearing it and thinking about designing it properly.

"And then over the next four or five years, I went ahead and made the garden to that plan.

"I’ve changed it a bit over the last ten years, but pretty much stuck to the original idea of having a long exotic jungle garden."

While many of the plant seeds he chose can struggle to thrive in UK conditions (namely ice and rain), this was all part of the challenge for Swaine.

"We’ve got some large eucalyptus trees at the bottom of the garden which has grown from little seedlings to towering trees as tall as the house now.

“We’ve also got lots of palm trees – including quite a large Chilean Wine Palm in the centre of the garden.

"But at the moment, one of the most interesting plants is the chocolate vine over the archway.

"It’s not related to chocolate at all, it just smells like chocolate. It has some really unusual blue-ish purple fruits at this time of the year."

Read more: Brits say Chocolate is a better mood-booster than going to the pub

Luckily, his green-fingered hobby has been welcomed with open arms by locals, despite them likely having differing tastes in garden design."Ours is very different from traditional lawns and borders, so it’s a bit of a contrast to next door," Swaine acknowledges, appreciative to "get on well" with the neighbours.

This could well be helped by the fact he opens it up to the public during the summer, usually attracting up to 400 visitors keen to enjoy some nature.

So, whether we're lucky enough to have a garden of our own, visit green spaces accessible to us, or decorate corners of our homes with plants galore, it's no secret that this can give our mental health a boost. But how exactly can it help?

How do gardens and green spaces help our mental health?

Multiple studies show gardening can relieve stress, anxiety, and depression, with some suggesting just viewing plants alone is beneficial for our physical and mental health, including reducing fear, anger and sadness.

Frequent visits to green spaces are even associated with less consistent use of medications for certain mental health problems, high blood pressure, and asthma. And even if you're already healthy (and have never gardened before), it's been proven you can still reap the benefits of working with plants, giving you a further boost.

"Gardens often provide a sanctuary away from the stresses of daily life, a direct connection to nature, a place for socialising, a sense of belonging, an opportunity to have some form of control over the local environment, a creative outlet or perhaps an intellectually stimulating learning journey," says Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) wellbeing fellow Dr Lauriane Chalmin-Pui.

Read more: The most common mental health conditions – and where to get help (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)

Director at charity Mental Health Foundation, Alexa Knight, includes spending time in nature as one of her top tips for good mental health – and you don't need a huge garden to do this. "Spending quality time in nature can be great for our wellbeing. Not all of us will live by a big forest or the sea, but we can find nature in the smallest spaces," she says.

"You could leave flowers for bees on your window or find a public park in the city where you live. Across the UK there are often community gardens or initiatives for local people to get involved with growing or gardening. These can be a fantastic boost for our mental health."

And Dr Chalmin-Pui agrees that we can get creative with how we enjoy nature. "Just like outdoor gardens, houseplants can improve our mental health in a variety of ways: by providing the opportunity to learn new things and being responsible for the nurturing of life, by enabling a sense of fulfilment and fascination both instantly and across seasons. Houseplants can also encourage self-expression and creativity," the expert explains.

And apparently, plants that we like the appearance and smell of "will stimulate pleasant emotions, memories, associations, or fascination, which is going to have positive impacts for us". In many cases, smell will be more important than appearance as our perception of smell is more closely linked to our emotional brain.

Of course, whether you're being stimulated just from being around greenery or mindful activities like planting and watering, this isn't a replacement for treating serious mental health conditions (which may include talking therapies), but it can certainly help.

Watch: Gwen Stefani finds joy in gardening

Additional reporting SWNS.