These funny colored little men live all across gardens around the world. They have been a memory of fun and enjoyment for many a child. Whether you are running around the garden shop trying to find the craziest gnome or attempting to find them throughout the neighbor’s garden.
However, nowadays, the traditional garden gnome is slowly fading out of trend. At many of the garden shows I attend, fellow gardens rebuff and laugh at the idea of including a gnome into their designs. You walk around your local neighborhood now and you’ll be pushed to find a sneaky little red hat peeping out from under the fauna. I feel like if I am even seen writing an article such as this that I’ll be booted from the garden club.
However, today we are going against the tide and doing what my heart says is the right things to do and that is speak up for the beloved gnome. This is definitely not an encouragement to drop everything and race down to the garden store, but we need to find the right time and place to suitably place a gnome in the garden.
Now to the hotly debated topic of the origins of the humble gnome. There are two main claimants to the throne, Germany and Switzerland. In the early 1840s when the industry who makes ceramic goods pushed out gnomes onto the market. It was around the same time that a wooden version emerged onto the Swiss market. However, it was the Germans who were making them in the truck load. It was then later in the decade that the gnomes made their way to the UK and take over gardens of the England. In fact that gnome that was brought back is now insured for well over one million pounds and was the starting trend for the red hatted gnome.
It was the upper classes that first took up the trend of placing these little bearded men in their gardens. However, as the industrial revolutionary started to pick up steam, they made their way into gardens all across England. The differentiation between gnomes also took off, with variations including smoking a pipe, holding fishing rods, and smiling with cheeky smiles.
So let this be a new start for the beloved gnome that has been with us for many years. We don’t need to go crazy, but including at least one cheeky little guy into your garden could make a young child from across the road smile just a little more when they next walk by. Now it’s that time to jump down to the local nursery and pick up a gnome and find a special place in the garden. Share the gnome you picked up in the comments below.