I’ve never understood the concept of “lawn art”…neither yard jockeys, the painted wood cutouts, nor the lifelike plastic deer in the lawns of many West Texas homes. Well, now I can add the “garden gnome” to this list.
Surely you’ve seen them? And no, Germany is not the only country whose citizens seem to have an affinity for the garden gnome. The concept is simple: plant your flower beds, flower boxes, shrubs and trees, but before your horticulture foray is complete, make sure a garden Gnome graces your garden. At first, I thought it was simply one German’s attempt at unique landscaping, but then I began to see garden gnomes popping up seemingly everywhere. Was it the J.R. Tolkien equivalent of middle earth creatures taking over? Or simply a use for an over-supply of plaster-of-paris in the local high school art class? Whatever the reason, the gnomes appeared to be here to stay.
After posing this question to one of my EDS colleagues, he quickly pointed out that many Germans and other Europeans are just “wild” about these gnomes. They love them! There is even a website to the garden gnome. I visited this website hoping to find an answer to the simple question of WHY? and found out there is an entire history devoted to this creature:
· Gnomes are 12 centimeters high and resemble the people of their host country (although all the gnomes I have seen look alike to me).
· Because gnomes are constantly happy, always festive, never worry, and are endlessly helpful, they never age and live for hundreds of years.
· They are primarily vegetarians ( which I guess is a good thing since they live in gardens), although apparently “they will also eat sausage and drink beer during festivals”. Huh?
· As humans continued to dig into Mother Earth, whether through basic gardening and/or mining for minerals, thousands of garden gnomes have been displaced. Hence, the reason why people are “adopting” them and putting them into their yards (OK, I grant you, it’s a great marketing concept).
· And the beat goes on…
Well, trust me, there is an entire legend of the garden gnome that you can read about, and if so inclined, “adopt”. While I realize the expression “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” is often a good moniker to remember when living abroad, I am going to opt for a slightly different gardening approach…
In case you doubt me, check out the website devoted to these creatures…
http://www.garden-gnomes-need-homes.com/history-of-garden-gnomes-1.htm
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