Professor Tim Entwisle

Tim is a highly respected author, broadcaster, botanist and garden expert, who has held senior roles in three of the world’s leading botanic gardens. From 2013 to 2023 Tim was Director and Chief Executive of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, following two years in an executive role with responsibilities for over half of Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (London), and eight as Executive Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust in Sydney. Tim is an Honorary Professorial Fellow in the School of Botany at The University of Melbourne and has been a Visiting Professor in the School of Biological and Biomedical Science, Durham University. During his 30 years or so working in botanic gardens, Tim has travelled throughout the world visiting botanic and other gardens on all continents; since 2016, he has been President of the International Association of Botanic Gardens.

Tim has a broad interest in plants and gardens, including editing and writing for the 4-volume Flora of Victoria, as well as authoring numerous magazine articles and books. Tim is best known for his 2014 publication Sprinter and Sprummer: Australia’s Changing Seasons, challenging the use of the traditional four seasons in Australia, and his ‘wildly rich memoir’ Evergreen: The Botanical Life of a Plant Punk published in 2022. Tim writes regularly to Gardening Australia Magazine.

Tim has a strong profile on various social media platforms, including a long-running and prize-winning blog (TalkingPlants) since 2008 and regular contributions to Instagram and X (ex-Twitter). He looks for any opportunity to promote science, plants and gardens and is a frequent speaker at clubs and specialist societies. Tim is a frequent guest on Australian radio and television, and writes opinion pieces for major newspapers. Over the summers of 2014-15 and 2015-16 Tim hosted ABC Radio National’s first gardening show, Talking Plants, and he continues to contribute regularly to RN’s Blueprint for Living.

Tim first joined ASA in 2017 and has since led two garden tours to Spain. His next tour, to England, was postponed due to COVID, but he is now keen to make up for lost time with tours planned for England, Morocco and New Zealand. Tim has travelled extensively in his professional and personal life, visiting gardens and meeting horticultural experts and garden owners all over the world. He is excited by the opportunity to show ASA travellers some of his favourite places and favourite plants.

Tim also has an interest in indie music, literature, kayaking and anything to do with Dr Samuel Johnson.

• Learn more about bushland biodiversity in Tim’s video – Biodiversity and the Seasons (YouTube – 3:02)
• Hear Tim talk about managing heritage trees in Sydney – Trees – Natural and Cultural Values (Youtube – 31:13)
• Tim explains why we need plants to live and to enjoy life – Curing Plant Blindness and Illiteracy (Youtube – 60:00)
• Tim joins Jon Faine as co-host of  The Conversation Hour: Tim Entwisle, Mark Nesbitt, Caroline Cornish, and Ayleen O’Hanlon (ABC Radio, 16 October 2018)

ABC Blueprint: Rewilding the famous UK garden, Great Dixter

Rewilding and gardening might, from a certain perspective, appear to be antithetical propositions. But recreating biodiversity requires a great deal of thought, planning and careful curation. Tim Entwisle – proponent of all three and former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria – talks to Fergus Garrett – the world renown garden designer, responsible for the rewilding of the famous UK Garden Great Dixter.