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No Home Is Complete Without A Garden Gnome
by Hugh Harris-evans
http://www.garden-supplies-advisor.com
Garden gnomes are one of those items of yard decor that you
either love or hate. While some consider them to be cheap
and tacky, more and more people are adding one or two of
these cheerful little characters to their gardens. Until a
few years ago the lawn jockey was the favorite ornament
found in gardens in the south and west, but recently, it
seems, the gnome has risen in popularity and now rules
supreme.
If you wonder why garden gnomes are so fashionable, one
explanation may be that they are always in the news. You
cannot open a newspaper or look on the internet without
seeing a story about an errant gnome. Every year large
numbers of gnomes disappear overnight and then some time
later groups are found hidden in woods. There can be few
policemen who have not struggled to reunite these lost
gnomes with their owners.
Before writing this article, I made a quick search which
turned up a story from Sweden about a group of twelve
gnomes kidnapped a month ago that had been found standing
in a ring in a snowy forest. Another story told of an
Auburn woman who is planning to open a museum in her home
to show off her collection of more than two thousand
different gnomes. An Australian newspaper was shocked to
find a shop displaying "Female gnomes in bikinis. With no
tops on".
The city of Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic boasts a
"garden gnome study group" attached to its museum's
national historical and geographic society. Another group
with rather different ideas is the "Garden Gnome Liberation
Front" which advocates an end to oppressive gardening and
freedom for garden gnomes everywhere.
To keep up with the growing demand manufacturers have
produced countless different designs in varying degrees of
quality. The materials used range from plastics and resin
to sculptured designs in stone. A small gnome will set you
back $20 but his larger cousin will run to $300 or more.
Two Dutchmen Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet published a
book on gnomes in 1977. The illustrations show a family
that claims to be the "only authentic Classic Gnomes from
the Forest". I have recently added a Garden Gnome Gallery
to my website showing some of the gnomes made from these
designs which you can find at:
http://www.garden-supplies-advisor.com/gardengnome.html
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