BURLINGTON – Roger Cook, the longtime landscaper on the PBS home improvement series “This Old House,” has died. He was 70.

Cook died on Wednesday “after a long battle with illness,” the broadcast said.

The landscaping and Gardening Expert was involved in “This old house” for more than 40 years, beginning in 1982 when the show was produced by WGBH-TV in Boston. He first joined the program full-time in 1988, as a landscaper for the renovation of a Lexington bed and breakfast.

“A gentle but factual approach”

“Roger was our much-valued colleague, appreciated by the entire This Old House community for his gentle but no-nonsense approach to every aspect of landscaping,” said an article on This Old House’s website. “He always had the answers we needed.”

Cook told viewers in 2018 that he was stepping down from a full-time role on the show because “several health issues made his appearances on television difficult.”

The showrunners say Cook’s legacy will live on in the landscapes he created and the knowledge he passed on.

“I remember every lesson Roger taught,” said Chris Wolfe, executive producer of “This Old House.” “And more importantly, there are millions of people whose lives have been enriched by everything Roger taught them.”

Roger Cook’s roots in Massachusetts

An obituary for Cook said he grew up in Woburn and Burlington, Massachusetts, and graduated from the University of Maine with degrees in wildlife management and conservation management. In 1982, he and his wife, Kathy, founded K&R Landscape in Woburn.

Cook’s visiting hours are Aug. 27 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home in Burlington. In lieu of flowers, Cook asked in his obituary that mourners “please plant a tree in their community to honor Roger’s lifelong commitment to the environment.”