Out the back of a suburban home on a leafy Australian street, a humble tree bearing 10 different fruits has just claimed a Guinness world record for most types of fruit on a single tree.

The tree is the result of a decade of Hussam Saraf’s hard work, transforming his modest stretch of grass in regional Victoria into a tropical oasis bearing rare fruit trees and edible natives, The Guardian reports.

“The previous record was five fruits grafted onto one tree, so I decided to graft 10,” Hussam said.

“But I was waiting to hear back and they told me my application was rejected, because they needed five different species, not varieties.”

The previous record of five grafted fruits – apricot, cherry, nectarine, plum and peach – had been held by Luis H Carrasco of Chile for two decades.

Hussam’s initial application, for grafting white and yellow nectarines, white and yellow peaches, blood and yellow plums, peachcots, apricots, almonds and cherries was deemed to only represent five types of fruit, placing him at a tie with Carrasco.

“I told them he had nectarine and peach which they counted as two, when it should have been one. So they said OK, changed the previous guy to four, and me to five,” Hussam says.

“I said OK, I’m happy, it’s amazing. Sometimes you just need to have a conversation.”

Hussam’s record tree was officially accepted for grafting plum, apricot, almond, peach and cherry.