Planting the seed: the botanist who harnessed the arts to grow Melbourne’s botanic gardens

Tim Entwisle on big trees: ‘I think we have this affinity with things that live longer than us.’ Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

Every morning, Prof Tim Entwisle arrives at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens just after 7am, usually in time to see the morning sun stream through the oak tree lawn.

“At that time of day the light coming through them is just spectacular,” he says.