Which version of Doctor Who you grew up with was one of the ways we marked ourselves on a timeline when we were kids. Of course, it has gone a bit screwy since the new series started and appealed to adults as well as children (David Tennant is now my Doctor of choice).

When you grow up and become a gardener in this country then you plant yourself on the gardening timeline with the flagship Gardeners’ World presenter of your time. Many older gardeners can remember back to Percy Thrower; had I been interested in gardening in my formative years then I would have watched Geoff Hamilton. He was followed by Alan Titchmarsh and then by Monty Don (briefly replaced by Toby Buckland).

Every time they change the presenter there is serious debate about whether the new one is up to the job – the audience, I think, would prefer the show to be preserved in aspic and still following its traditional roots. I have no strong feelings, because I am not a regular viewer. I like Monty Don, and I loved Alys Fowler when she was a supporting presenter, but the show content is far too general for me with my enduring love of nothing but edible and useful plants.

Until now I hadn’t really come across Geoff Hamilton’s work, but he was famous for his down-to-earth practical approach and his organic principles; viewers were honestly saddened when he died unexpectedly. But his legacy lives on and his books, DVDs and Barnsdale Gardens remain popular.

First broadcast in 1990, his six-episode show ‘The Ornamental Kitchen Garden’ was released on DVD in 2007 as part of the Geoff Hamilton Collection (which also includes The Cottage Garden and The Paradise Garden, although I have yet to watch them).

In these six episodes we watch over two or three years as Geoff creates a modern take on the cottage garden (flowers, vegetables and herbs all grown together) from scratch in a space which (these days) would be a large back garden but not overly so.

Geoff shows you how to plan the features you want and lay out the garden. Then he walks you through laying several different kinds of paths. In later episodes he shows you how to build your own pergola, and a small wildlife pond. His advice always errs on the side of thrift, rather than taking short cuts – he’s big on sowing seeds and taking cuttings, rather than buying in lots of plants.

Every feature in the garden is designed to be attractive; the productivity comes from maintaining a very fertile soil and constantly replacing crops as they mature and are harvested. It’s a bit like Square Foot Gardening, but without the rigid layout as vegetables are tucked in amongst the flowers in the border. The emphasis here is on raising strong, healthy plants and creating a balanced ecosystem so that pests and their predators are kept in balance.

For the most part the crops he chooses to grow are familiar vegetables and fruits, grown to be productive in a small space. He does mention New Zealand spinach, which copes with the dry summer weather better than plain old spinach with its tendency to bolt.

He’s fond of blood, fish and bonemeal as a fertilizer, and plenty of animal manure, which means he won’t appeal to vegan gardeners. But he does offer good, solid instructions on how to do a lot of basic gardening tasks – including double-digging, sowing seeds, taking cuttings and making compost. Episode 6 contains some lovely footage from East Malling, where fruit trees have been trained into all kinds of weird and wonderful designs – showing that these versatile plants can find a home in even the smallest garden, although the more complicated forms would require the kind of dedication to pruning that most gardeners can’t muster.

Despite the fact that this series is over 20 years old, the only things that appear dated are the titles and the rather endearing theme tune. You don’t get the crystal clear close-ups of plants that you see now, but you don’t miss them. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and picked up some good ideas. I’m sure Pete will love it too, with his burgeoning interest in garden DIY.

You can still see the garden Geoff built for the series if you visit Barnsdale. The DVD collection isn’t hard to come by, or (like I did) you can rent it if you’re a member of Lovefilm.