This article is a personal review of the late great Geoff Hamilton and how
he inspired my lifelong love of gardening.
I grew up watching the TV programme Gardeners World. My parents always
watched it and so as a young child when I was around and not playing
outside, I watched it too.
I remember watching Gardeners World on TV before Geoff Hamilton presented
it but it was Geoff Hamilton when I was a little older who completely
captured my gardening heart and imagination and inspired me to love plants
and try to be a gardener.
As a child my parents always gave me a small plot of land to grow easy
plants and quick growing vegetables and I think that was a great thing to do
and gave me as a young child the joy of gardening with quick results!
As I grew older I wanted to know more and pre-internet my main sources to
learn about gardening were books and gardening programmes on TV.
Geoff Hamilton seemed so approachable, and accessible and appeared to be
talking to me directly. He had a natural easy way about him and clearly a
passion for gardening and plants in all his TV appearances and books. He was
that rare combination of a talented presenter and expert gardener who could
teach in an accessible and relaxed manner.
In fact, unlike some presenters of TV shows, I don't think he saw it as
about him at all but rather about teaching us how to look after plants and
flowers, vegetables and trees, how to design and make, build and tend and I
loved him for it. I could really relate to his honest, rational and logical
approach to gardening.
I also really related to his ideals around organic gardening and his
approach to gardening in a wildlife-friendly manner. Both these ideals were
quite new and radical at the time when he started his TV shows and wrote his
books and they completely resounded with me.
Without a doubt, Geoff Hamilton was a person I would really have loved to
have met in person and is one of my regrets in life that I did not. However,
He does live on in Barnsdale gardens, now run by his son Nick Hamilton. You
can feel Geoff's presence there and his books are wonderful to read and
learn from.
For many years as a young adult gardening had to take a back seat to my
life. I was at University and then working in a city, renting different
places and I had no garden. I had to make do with a window box or a few
pots, or the windowsill.
Of course, I always wanted my own garden and would help my parents with
theirs whenever I went back home, but I wanted my own. It was not until we
got married and then bought our own home that I got to flex my own gardening
muscles both figuratively and practically!
So then I returned to Geoff Hamilton and read and re-read his books and
watched his videos to learn and understand all I could, He truly was my
gardening inspiration and teacher.
When he left Gardeners World with health issues I was very sad and then his
subsequent death really affected me. I do now like to watch Monty Don, Alan
Titchmarch and others who I still learn a lot from, but I have to say it was
Geoff Hamilton who was my original inspiration, who along with my parents
made me into a person who has a deep love of plants, wildlife, nature and
gardens.
I was so lucky a couple of years ago to visit Geoff Hamiltons gardens where
he filmed all of Gardeners World and other programmes at Barnsdale in
Rutland in UK.
I was beyond excited to visit this wonderful place I had watched for years
on TV!! I was not disappointed, quite the opposite. I have to admit for me
this was an emotional visit and I experienced a full range of emotions from
joy to sadness, awe and amazement, tears and laughter.
The first thing to greet you when you enter the garden is Geoff Hamilton's
gardening jeans!! I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to this place of my
gardening hero.
My husband and I spent two whole days walking around, taking notes and
photographs. we absolutely loved it. We originally intended a day visit only
but we just had to go back again within the same weeks holiday.
I recall watching how Geoff built each garden and how gardens evolve over
time. I loved that he often gave different options for a garden a more
expensive one and a less expensive version to achieve a similar effect. In
this way he made gardening financially accessible for most people whatever
the budget and size of the garden.
He also showed us how to make and build much of the hard landscaping,
fencing, ponds and brickwork and for me always seemed to explain it in a
manner I felt "I could give that a go".
Even within the same week there were new things to see and things we did
not notice the first time around. I wish I had visited years ago and I hope
I make it back again.
The whole site is divided up into smaller gardens you can walk around and
into each beautiful individual garden. There are many gardens to explore
including ones Geoff built from scratch and filmed from the
beginning.
Some of the gardens include the Ornamental kitchen garden, The Gentlemans
cottage garden, Artisan cottage garden, Wildflower border, A Rock Feature,
Bog garden, Courtyard gardens, a Children's garden, a Japanese garden and
Herb garden plus many more. Many of these were designed and built by
Geoff.
In this way with individual gardens of a manageable size, it is quite easy
to walk around and appreciate each garden on its own and it does not become
overwhelming. There is a welcoming, friendly atmosphere. You feel that you
could take planting ideas, features or make similar designs in your
own garden.
We went in late May and I do think it would be worth visiting these gardens
at least 4 times a year in each season to fully appreciate all the planting
and care taken throughout the seasons.
84%
Our own garden is quite established and it would be a mammoth task to
change it now. However, we have decided when we move house that we will base
our new design on one of Geoff's gardens.
We will of course adapt the design to the space we have and add our own
particular nuances and special or favourite plants and we so look forward to
building and growing it.
Geoff Hamilton has written a number of wonderful books and I think I have
most of them. I will write reviews on them in time to come but wanted to
list just a couple of them here so you can start to discover the down to
earth brilliance of this most humble, gentle and wonderful
gardener.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
