AN AWARD-winning garden created by rare plant hunters has been transformed with a series of paths and seats for visitors to view the attraction.

Work to add to the 20-acre Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park, at Grewelthorpe, near Ripon, has seen its collection swell to more than 60 sculptures, 500 species of rhododendron, more than 1,000 hybrid rhododendrons and 120 magnolias.

The garden's owner, Peter Roberts, has been developing the attraction for more than a decade and has supported trips to the Himalayan area to add to the wild-origin plant material already in his collection, much of which had been supplied by eminent Himalayan plant hunter Alan Clark.

In recent years, there has been a drive to increase the number of choice perennials, including primula and meconopsis, featured in the gardens.

The garden, where former Brodick Castle head gardener Jens Nielsen has recently taken charge of the attraction, has also seen the creation of a pagoda, which was built in Bali, on the edge of a lake.