The history of the formal reserve dates back to the 1800s, when farmer Job Wilton fenced off seven hectares of indigenous forest for protection.
The reserve was later formalised in the 1920s as an 'open-air plant museum', and today it's more than 100 hectares of forest and native botanic gardens hold around 1,200 native plant species from across Aotearoa.
Even back then, Moko was already several hundred years old – limbs draped in an array of green-grey mosses, ferns and lichens, and her branches playing host to resting kererū, tūī and korimako.
In the 1970s, plans to build a road through the land were stymied by the local community, led by architect and environmentalist Robert Fantl, who later set up a bequest to preserve the tree.
To ensure visitors will be able to enjoy Moko, Tim says that the team at Ōtari-Wilton's Bush have upgraded the pathway to make it easier to get there.