A £40,000 transformation of Brad-ford's Centenary Square is to start next week as lorry-loads of turf, trees and plants arrive to create a magical garden in the middle of the city.

Work to install an eight-metre lake surrounded by 2,300 square feet of turf and 1,00 plants varieties - part of Bradford Festival - starts on Sunday. Workers will descend on the square to create four magical zones including a wetland, sensory garden, maze and story-telling area.

First to be built will be a water feature which is to form the centrepiece of the project.

The large water wall, designed by students at Shipley College, will feature a spiralling stream of water cascading into a pool in the middle of the gardens, designed to represent the cycle of water.

Horticulture students at the college created the ambitious display last year. It won a silver medal at the Harrogate Spring Show. Now the stainless steel columns are to be resurrected to impress visitors at this year's festival.

Martin Bijl, horticulture lecturer at Shipley College, said: "The idea represents water evaporating from the land, rising up into the clouds and returning to the land as rain.

"It is really fortuitous that we got involved. We have done all this in just five weeks. It is going to be incredible."

About 15 students will erect the display on Tuesday. They will be joined by West Yorkshire Fire Service on Tuesday afternoon to help fill the lake with almost 8,000 gallons of water.

Bradford Council events manager Vanessa Mitchell said: "There will be a lot to do because there are so many things to bring in. Some of it, in the wetlands for example, will be coming from donors throughout the district.

"Once the water centrepiece goes in we will lay the turf and then start filling the gardens with plants and trees."

Reeds, lilies and sedges from Baildon Moor and Boars Well nature reserve in Canal Road, Bradford, are to be included in the wetland display to highlight the variety of plants growing in the district. Plants and trees from Peel Park nurseries are to be used and Bradford Council's forestry department will be providing a story-telling chair carved from an old horse-chestnut tree. Pebbles, windchimes and a herb garden are some of the things Woodville Horticultural Centre in Keighley will provide.

The magical gardens will officially open on Thursday, June 17, and will remain in Centenary Square till June 20.