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00:01Today, on a special episode of Ask This Old House, we celebrate the life of landscaper Roger Cook.
00:08The right way to prune a tree is called the three-cut method.
00:11I think people gravitated to Roger because they trusted his knowledge.
00:16He's a model for all of us.
00:18He was the god of landscape to this country, and he was right there in front of me.
00:23One question I get all the time is how to grow grass in shady conditions.
00:29We'll share our favorite memories of Roger, as well as some heartfelt messages we received from viewers across the country.
00:37Together, we'll remember Roger for who he was, and will always be, our dear friend.
00:48In 1988, Roger Cook made his first appearance on This Old House.
00:53Roger, what's this large guy here?
00:55This is a Cornus Kusa. This is a Japanese dogwood, Bob.
00:59Perfect. See what I mean?
01:00For over 30 years, Roger's passion for plants and landscaping inspired millions of viewers to reimagine the beauty that was
01:08just outside their homes.
01:10We're creating habitat for the animals in the area to come in and nest and feed, and they've got the
01:15perfect plants for it.
01:16Roger recently passed away, so we wanted to take some time to remember and celebrate our friend.
01:28How about we start at the beginning, which is first impressions of our friend Roger.
01:34My first one, which was most memorable, was that scene where I was introduced on Ask, you know, when you
01:40guys had that gag of me arriving at the bar.
01:42He was the first one.
01:43Yeah.
01:43You're late.
01:45Uh, hey, am I in the right place?
01:47And who are you?
01:48Oh, I'm Kevin O'Connor.
01:50The new guy.
01:51Yeah.
01:52You're late.
01:54Right?
01:54Nobody played the ogre better than him.
01:56He was a teddy bear, but he played the ogre.
01:58And even when he was delivering it to me, which he pulled off, I was like, I think he's kidding.
02:03I think that guy's kidding.
02:05Jen, your first impressions of the big man?
02:08We have plenty of room to put in.
02:09I was very intimidated by him, because he was Roger Cook.
02:13He was the god of landscape to this country, and he was right there in front of me.
02:18He was going to help us with projects, and we have one we're already working on.
02:21Oh, what's that?
02:22What are you guys thinking about doing?
02:23We're actually going to do a vegetable bed for a third grade class.
02:26Making the plans right now.
02:28Roger took me under his wings on the show, because I just was like, how do you do this?
02:34How do you teach with a camera in your face and all this activity and commotion going on?
02:39And he just was like, just do what you do when you're implementing a project on your own.
02:45I was like, okay.
02:46And then he said, and one tip, it's always easier to do with a shovel in your hand.
02:51While the bed's wide open, I want to dig out about four inches of material.
02:54It's so true, having a tool in your hand, it just makes you feel like, okay, this feels more normal.
03:00Once we've done that, we'll be ready for the weed barrier.
03:03We grew to be good buddies, and all forever thank you, Roger, for letting me in.
03:15It was the quiet sort of sergeant, you know, that made everything happen.
03:19He just wanted to do the work, and he stayed late to do it, and he worked hard, and he
03:23worked like crazy to prep for the thing that was going to be a two-minute scene the next day.
03:28He did ten hours the day before.
03:29He took command.
03:31Yeah.
03:31You know?
03:32Absolutely.
03:32Your first impression, Tommy?
03:34I mean, that goes way back.
03:35A gentle giant.
03:36You know?
03:37Somebody that, no frills, just, you know, let's get going.
03:41What do you want?
03:41Let's get it done.
03:42And if you don't do the right work in the preparation, the next year, your patio will start moving all
03:46over the place.
03:47Okay.
03:48He didn't want to do anything that wasn't right.
03:50Yeah.
03:50But you know what?
03:51I'm no landscaper.
03:52But I actually know a guy that can help you out.
03:55Take a look at these flowers.
03:56This is what we're going to fill your window boxes with today.
03:59I think people gravitated to Roger because they trusted his knowledge.
04:04The other thing I'm going to do is look at the face of the plant.
04:07So I want to put the best side or the face out to where we're going to see all those
04:12flowers.
04:13His explanations of how to do things was simple but concise.
04:17What we're going to do is punch a bunch of holes in this outside to let sunlight in.
04:23He had a way of saying, well, you know, don't do it that way.
04:27This is why.
04:28Told you why.
04:29This is the reason you don't use wire to tie the branches up.
04:32That's so tight around this branch that it's girdling it.
04:35You can see how it's swollen on this side.
04:38And then he showed you how.
04:39Let me show you the right thing to use on the trees.
04:41And that's this plastic half-inch locking tree tie.
04:45If you're looking for a visible edging, nothing beats a cobblestone or a brick.
04:50He'd be gruff, but he's the teddy bear.
04:53Now I have a general rule of thumb.
04:55Any branch I'm going to hit my head on when I'm mowing the lawn gets cut off the tree.
04:59How's that?
04:59Okay, makes sense.
05:00Just a super regular guy.
05:03And you could tell within the first minute of watching him, he had a big heart.
05:15He was a teacher in this field, not just to the audience, certainly to me.
05:19He was very smart.
05:21And it's funny because, you know, I see a plant.
05:24I have trouble with the English name of it.
05:27But he knew the Latin name.
05:28Oh, yeah.
05:29This is before Google.
05:30Because he'd say...
05:32What did he say?
05:33What did he say?
05:33Yeah, what did he say?
05:35Is he real?
05:37Is he real?
05:37And he was.
05:38Over here, we have hydrangea macrophylla lace cap.
05:43This is microbiota, also called Siberian carpet.
05:46Plethora on the folia hummingbird.
05:48We have two osteospernum.
05:51Amelopsis pedunculata.
05:53And here, a Phalaenopsis orchid.
05:55He was a walking encyclopedia with plants.
05:58And that was one of my favorite things to do with him.
06:00We talked Latin names.
06:01Because that's how I was trained at the nursery.
06:03And that's how horticultural people speak to each other in Latin names.
06:07This is called anemone or windflower.
06:10We have a plant that the butterflies love.
06:13Budlia.
06:14This could be covered with butterflies at some point this summer.
06:17Roger's legacy is...
06:18He's the man.
06:19He's the landscape god.
06:21He's the one that if you had a question, you wanted to talk to Roger about it.
06:26Roger never stopped learning.
06:27He was tracking soil temperatures and sending stuff off to the labs at the ag schools.
06:35He was talking about new cultivars.
06:39And he was able to articulate what was going on in the citrus fruit world.
06:46The second thing you look for is crimped leaves.
06:49And that's a sign where the psyllid was feeding.
06:51And when it's feeding, it transmits a disease to the tree.
06:55Now the main purpose of a rain garden is to filter the water.
06:58And one great thing that helps with this is native wetlands plants.
07:02Now if you look...
07:03I saw something in him whenever he got a chance to do something with a young person.
07:09He just became the perfect teacher to the kids.
07:13You like sandboxes?
07:15Yeah!
07:15Well that's what we're going to make today.
07:17We're going to take this area right in front of us.
07:19We're going to dig it out and we're going to line it in a wood called cedar.
07:22Because he would lighten up and he was this huge, massive guy coming into a classroom.
07:27And the kids are like, oh my gosh!
07:29Well I'm here because you all are growing stuff.
07:32Look at you.
07:33You all got seedlings on your desks.
07:34What are you growing, Malak?
07:35Sweet peppers.
07:36Sweet peppers.
07:37That's great.
07:38He just had this electric vibe with everybody.
07:40He had a soft touch.
07:44Way to go, buddy.
07:47Good job.
07:48Let's do the lettuce.
07:49So we're going to put down a restoration grass seed mix.
07:53In fact, there's a grass in there called tickle grass.
07:56I want all you guys to make holes and I want them about two knuckles deep, about an inch and
08:00a half.
08:00Because we're going to plant beans.
08:03Great.
08:04Long soak.
08:07That's better.
08:08Oh, okay.
08:09Alright.
08:10We'll do each of them and then come back and do them again.
08:13You do it now.
08:14You got it?
08:22He spent more time on his knees than anybody I know.
08:26Now I'm going to put a little starter fertilizer on there.
08:28Like he just wasn't afraid to just get dirty.
08:31Every pair of jeans always will have the rip and or the stain.
08:34Cut that one out.
08:35We've been able to give Paul and the boys a real yard to plant.
08:39You know, I want to talk about the yard, but can we talk about you for a second?
08:41You look like you lost a fight with a mud puddle.
08:44I did this morning.
08:45I did.
08:46Just the memories of him coming home from a work day, just completely exhausted, completely filthy.
08:52And we used to give him a hard time because he, you know, he'd get into his chair after work
08:57and it'd take him about 10 seconds to get to sleep.
08:59You know, in hindsight, he worked so hard to create opportunities for our family.
09:05Man versus Stump?
09:06Who won?
09:07Stump.
09:09Roger's work ethic was honest and straightforward.
09:13He had a task and he did it happily, mostly.
09:18All right.
09:18Well, it looks like he beat the stump after all.
09:20Feels like the stump beat me to be honest.
09:23And he got his crew to work that hard too.
09:25I mean, you guys run your own businesses.
09:26You all have people working for you.
09:29How did he get his crew to work that hard that long?
09:33Because they see his work ethic.
09:35Respect.
09:35Ready?
09:36One, two, three.
09:37There we go.
09:39Okay.
09:39Keep going once more.
09:40Roger was my neighbor growing up.
09:42It was the first time when I was 14.
09:45He'd pick me up and drive me to work.
09:47When I hire people, I try to hire nice people.
09:50I can train them to do what I want, but they have to be nice.
09:52So when you get a crew of nice guys working together, you get a lot done.
09:57I'd have about 30 seconds to get in the truck.
09:59If I wasn't there, he'd take off without me, which he has a couple times.
10:03And then when we got, he'd make me buy him coffee.
10:06That was my payment to get to work.
10:08I don't know how much money I spent in coffee, but it was worth it.
10:14Tom, I'll take this in.
10:15You get the front.
10:16Roger was a very strong guy.
10:18I mean, there was two of us trying to struggle to get this tree off a truck.
10:22And he just bear hugged it, took it off the truck, and was like, this is how it's done.
10:27There you go.
10:29So it was kind of learned by example.
10:32You know, Roger was great about that.
10:33Tom, we need to go a little to you.
10:35He would show you how to do something, and he really wanted you to pick up on it.
10:39But he would guide you through how to do stuff and make sure you're doing it right.
10:44One of the most important things is getting all the mortar off the stone.
10:47And you've got to do that as you go.
10:49You don't want it to dry on there.
10:50Then it's really hard to get off.
10:51He used to say it's not worth doing unless you do it right.
10:54You used a turf-type fescue, and this will survive in partial shade.
10:59It's a good choice for the backyard.
11:02No context.
11:04Just a post.
11:06You've got to mix the mortar until it's consistency of peanut butter.
11:11They loved his accent.
11:13Any tips for the right consistency?
11:15You don't want it like soup.
11:17If you try to lay a cobble on soup, it's just going to sink.
11:19You want it thick like peanut butter.
11:22His accent got thicker every year.
11:24You've got a real problem over in this corner.
11:26All the water's coming off the roof, settling in that low spot, going down the foundation,
11:31finding a weak spot, and going in the cellar.
11:33Remember, he even made fun of himself like he did the top.
11:37Right on the top.
11:38It'll make for an easy cleanup.
11:39Okay.
11:40Just pour it over here.
11:41Oh, on the top!
11:43Oh, the tarp!
11:44Yeah, what did you think I said?
11:46The top!
11:47The top?
11:48No, the top!
11:49I'm still fascinated by the accent.
11:52To do that, we're going to drive this half-inch by four-foot-long piece of rebar right through
11:58the timber.
11:59He would tell you it didn't really have an accent.
12:01No, everybody else did.
12:02Yeah.
12:03One of the things I love about the Essex job site is it's big, and it's wild, and it's
12:09rambling, sort of a little like me.
12:12Dad always said that he was a landscaper first and not a TV person, and not a
12:17TV person trying to be a landscaper.
12:19There are some species of grass that will tolerate partial shade, but no matter what
12:24you do, what a lawn really wants, there's a lot of sun and a lot of water to thrive.
12:30You know, to be honest, when the This Old House opportunity first presented itself, it
12:35was not something that he was, you know, super thrilled about, but I think he recognized
12:39that, you know, it was a fantastic opportunity both for the industry and for our family to
12:45participate in it.
12:46He didn't really talk much about being on TV.
12:50Like I said, it was a job.
12:52We went in, he wanted to go in and teach people how to do things.
12:55I always say put the right plant in the right place.
12:58Sometimes you just have to admit that grass isn't the right plant.
13:01What you saw on camera was really Roger.
13:04There was nothing fake about Roger.
13:11Roger loved plants, nature.
13:14I mean, he had a degree in wildlife.
13:16We have water, we have wildlife, turtles, fish.
13:19This is like my ultimate backyard, Kevin.
13:21Perfect, right?
13:22It wasn't just trees and plants that he enjoyed too.
13:25I mean, we'd be driving and he'd call us on the old radios that we used to.
13:29Hey, there's a turtle in the road.
13:30Don't run over that turtle.
13:32Watch out for that frog.
13:33You know, he really enjoyed nature and everything about it.
13:37It's a great wildlife habitat area.
13:39You have birds, snakes, and turtles in here.
13:42But when you're building a house next to a wetlands, you have certain responsibilities.
13:47And he loved being on the water fishing.
13:49So what is it about fishing, Roger, that you love so much?
13:52It's everything, Kevin, about being outside.
13:54You have the ocean, you have people, you have boats, you have fish.
13:58It's just a tremendous place to spend a day.
14:01Honestly, you know, aside from his family, I'm not sure that anything else took precedent over fishing.
14:06Every weekend in the summer was carved out for fishing for Dad.
14:10As long as there wasn't gale force winds, we were going out on the boat.
14:13It is the mass, bass, castmaster.
14:16Mass, bass, castmaster?
14:17You guys know I love to fish, right?
14:19Yeah.
14:19He was very strategic about making sure he got his fishing in.
14:23Yeah.
14:24He loved going out early in his little boat in Woods Hole and just go fishing, you know,
14:30and come back two or three hours later.
14:32Yeah.
14:33Take the fish and fry them up in the grill right next to all the landscaping that you just finished.
14:38That's Roger.
14:44Let's get to it.
14:46How many trees and plants do you think you planted?
14:49Guesses?
14:50Hundreds of thousands.
14:52So you need to understand how tall a tree gets when it's mature, how wide it gets, and how much
14:57sun it needs.
14:58They're all over the place. We've done so many jobs and so much work.
15:03Nice and easy.
15:05Beautiful.
15:06Wherever I drive all day, every day, I'm always passing something that Roger left his fingerprints on.
15:10And I look at those trees now and I'm like, I planted those trees with Roger.
15:15So we're ready to dig some holes and put them in the ground.
15:18Great.
15:19Now see these roots?
15:20Yes.
15:20It's all pot bound.
15:21So we're going to take a claw.
15:23We're just going to go in and loosen it all up.
15:26I counted yesterday, 17 on my property alone.
15:29Various times he came out there, you know, and I looked at those three over there.
15:33I was like, oh yeah, Roger put those in.
15:34And they were now and he moved about 12 blueberry bushes because he's like, what are those doing over there?
15:41And before I got home, they were already over there.
15:44We'll roll it in the hole.
15:46Okay.
15:49All right.
15:50A Japanese umbrella pine.
15:53Beautiful, beautiful tree.
15:55When you've got a master craftsman, when you've got a Picasso in your midst, like, who doesn't want to paint
16:01better?
16:01Who doesn't want to lay an enemy?
16:03Like, what's the secret there?
16:04It's a great thing about prepping the whole bed is it makes it so easy to plant these and just
16:09set it in the hole at the right height,
16:12and then just backfill with that good soil all around it.
16:15Roger loved doing what he loved to do, and he took a lot of pride and care in doing it
16:22right.
16:22You can see all the tulips and all those flowering beds in the summer.
16:26Thank you so much, Roger.
16:27I can't believe this was my little dirt patch a couple of hours ago.
16:30Roger, this is beautiful. I want to thank you. I love it.
16:34Roger, you're a godsend. I appreciate your expertise and your help.
16:38Thank you so much.
16:39You're welcome.
16:39I appreciate your help.
16:40I had a great time.
16:40That was awesome.
16:41When our life is over, for people to say, wow, thank you and you helped me so much, that's a
16:47life well lived.
16:56You know, I think Roger's legacy is completely in time with the legacy of this old house, because, you know,
17:03he is this old house.
17:05The tree looks great.
17:06I've been ribbing Roger in order to get it in.
17:09He had to rip up most of the lawn.
17:11You know me, gotta have a lot of destruction before we have any construction.
17:15There'll never be another Roger. No.
17:18Well, he was so much an original that I hope that he has the same effect that Julia Child does
17:28in a funny way as being the original in the cooking world.
17:32Well, we've extended the season in the last few years and we're able to plant right up until the ground
17:37solid.
17:38Really?
17:38It's just amazing, you know, how many people he touched.
17:41And for so long he was just dad to me and now I have a new perspective of, you know,
17:46Roger from this old house and what that meant for so many people.
17:51Later on in the show, Jen's gonna show homeowners whether they're in an apartment.
17:55I asked his permission because I said, I'm, I can't take this position without you saying it's okay.
18:03Um, he said, carry on the passion.
18:07And, um, and I said, okay, I'm not gonna let you down.
18:17Two big lessons that Roger taught me were, it's okay to be a gentleman.
18:23And he taught me to appreciate that what we do is a gift, you know, that we're just extremely fortunate
18:31to be part of such an iconic and trusted organization.
18:37Um, and to have the ability for them to share the craft and for me to help them with that
18:43with a really appreciative audience.
18:45Now there's a couple of rules that go along with that first cut. The first is the one third rule.
18:50Roger taught me a lot about life.
18:52And, uh, to tell you the truth, I don't even know where I'd be without Roger right now.
18:56I don't even want to think about it.
18:59The last time I saw Roger, a week or two before he passed away, he was at his house in
19:06hospice.
19:07And there's not much to do at that point other than just go and sit and hold his hand.
19:13As I was walking in, who was walking out? Fred and Tom.
19:22The young kids who Roger mentored, you know, who Roger drove to work, at the end were the ones who
19:30were driving Roger to work.
19:34And, uh, that's the full circle of mentorship. That's, you know, a great tribute to him of the people he
19:43surrounded himself by.
19:45We want to just keep the company going the same way Roger ran it.
19:50We're trying to, again, it's taken two of us to do what Roger did himself.
19:54And hopefully we can do him proud and just keep going the way that he taught us to keep his
20:00legacy and keep the company going.
20:03Hopefully his grandchildren will come work for us in the summer. That was the idea.
20:07Yeah.
20:07I want my grandchildren to come work for you guys in the summer just like his kids did.
20:12I could read you 30 of these that I got, but they were all basically the same thing as this
20:19one.
20:20I'm going to plant three trees in Roger's name this weekend and teach my three children how to grow and
20:30care for them.
20:34He's going to teach his kids how to do it right based on Roger.
20:39Thank you, Roger.
20:42Right.
20:42Let's plant a tree.
20:45Roger planted this tree over 20 years ago.
20:49It's a magnolia and in a few weeks it is going to be in full bloom.
20:52And we thought it would be fitting to plant another tree in his honor here at the barn.
20:57All right.
20:57There they are. Hey, guys.
20:58Hey, Kevin.
20:59So, Jen, what'd we pick?
21:00So, we picked a parodia persica.
21:03It's a Persian ironwood.
21:05Okay.
21:05It's going to do very, very well in full sun.
21:08All right.
21:08Well, what do you say we get to the ground?
21:09Let's do it.
21:13When I plant a tree, I always take into consideration where the tree likes to grow, whether it likes
21:18sun or shade, and how big it's ultimately going to get.
21:23I want the receiving hole to be twice the diameter of the root ball.
21:29We're going to measure the tree and it's going to tell us how deep it wants to be.
21:3414 inches.
21:3514 inches.
21:35How'd you do?
21:37Oh, right on the money.
21:38Look at that.
21:38You like?
21:39You like.
21:40We have a saying, plant them high, they won't die.
21:43Plant them low, they won't grow.
21:45Perfect.
21:46Every tree has a face and that's the best side.
21:48We want to get that towards the house.
21:54Now we've got to cut the burlap off the ball.
21:58What we want to find is where the trunk comes down and the roots start to flare off.
22:08I'm also going to add super phosphate to help the roots grow and some starter fertilizer.
22:13Then once it's all mixed together, you can backfill around the tree.
22:22It's a bit of work but it's going to grow up to be a beautiful specimen tree.
22:28Thank you, Roger.
22:29Thank you, Roger.
22:30We love you, Roger.
22:31Thank you, Roger.
22:42Next time on Ask This Old House, Tommy shows you how to build mudroom cubby
22:46cubbies.
22:47There will be three individual sections with openings on the bottom for two baskets and
22:52two baskets at the top.
22:56Then, Mauro gives a few tips on painting the cubbies.
23:00At the front, you have the nozzle that you can flip it and you can go vertical or horizontal.
23:06All that on Ask This Old House.
23:33All that on Ask This Old House.
23:35Yogamaih.
23:37It's a bit of a
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