Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Secret World Of Gnomes

After my last post I realized that a lot of us like Garden Gnomes. So I thought I'd post a story that I wrote about Garden Gnomes. I wrote this some time ago and I thought that I had posted it, but I couldn't find it when I looked back on the older posts so here it is again.


The Secret World of Gnomes
Let me tell you about a secret civilization of little people, that some of us gardeners are lucky enough to have living in our gardens all over the United States. They are very shy individuals who value their privacy but as long as I do not disclose their location, they have agreed that I can do a tasteful and informative story on them. I am sure some of you have heard of them before and just dismissed them as a folklore or fairy tale, when in fact they are and always have been very real indeed. There is proof. But please don’t try to capture them they belong in the wild. They are not pets. They are very interesting little people.


I know a local gardener who didn’t believe that Gnomes existed, He was stumped when one of his wind chimes kept moving from the Shepard’s hook in his garden and placed on the hook on his porch. The first three times he placed it right back only to wake up the next morning to discover that the wind chime had been moved again to his porch hook, So he then removed the hook. He thought he would teach this prankster a lesson. Well the next morning the wind chime in question was gone. That’s o.k. he thought I have more. So each night he replaced it and found it gone the next morning. Five days and five windchimes later, he found them all in a pile hidden under a bush. He decided to place a trap out and bait it with cookies.


The next morning, anxious to see what has been causing his trouble the gardener hurried out to the garden and discovered a very frightened gnome in his trap. The gnome explained that the wind chime disturbed his sleep, so he moved it to a more suitable spot. He needed his rest because he was keeper of the fireflies and has to be up all night long to keep them fed. So the gardener put all of the wind chimes in a row along the porch and not only does the porch look beautiful it sounds beautiful too. Once a week he also places a cookie out for the gnome and in the morning in its place he finds a seed to plant in his garden from the little gnome.

Gnomes are very hard working, loyal, and shy, but they do have a fun side to their personalities and love to play pranks on the humans and each other. As I show you the secret world of the Garden Gnomes, Please keep in mind that there are several of them out there that are still homeless and you could bring them to your garden to live and be forever entertained by them. but remember their charm can very easily become addicting to some individuals. And before you know it, you may be overrun with these mischievous little wonders of nature.



Let me introduce you to Grandpa Gnome, He is a very sweet natured man who loves his job of caregiver and storyteller to the children. He passes his spare time taking naps under the trees in your yard and when he’s not there he is usually playing with the garden hose because it is also his job to make sure everything is getting watered properly and to keep the birdbaths and little watering holes full of fresh water, He has also been seen hitching a ride on some of the bigger frogs in the garden.

The next gnome is very well known as a prankster, his name is Lester, in a photo he is offering a warm and friendly welcome greeting, His smile can be very convincing because he is a very playful gnome who is always happy to have new visitors to play his jokes on. He is also in charge of caring for the birds and keeping the birdfeeders full. It is always a good idea to be on your toes when Lester is around, because you never know when you will be the object of his next prank.
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This adorable little guy is Vincent Gnome, He takes care of all of the garden toolsand equipment. He also likes to decorate the garden and lawn , Sometimes he plants magic mushrooms in a circle (called Fairy Rings) so the humans have something confusing to ponder over. Vincent is very shy and can sometimes be found hiding behind the decorations in your garden.



This sleepy little guy is Milton, He has the important job of night watchman. He keeps all humans and gnomes alike, safe during the night. He is also in charge of cleaning the bird bathsand fountains.He makes friends with all of the animals and helps them find food for their families, while everyone is sleeping. During the day you will see him snoring away in his hammockand Sometimes late at night he can be seen darting from one light to the other because it is also his job to make sure all of your garden lights are in working order.


It does not require much effort to find this next gnome. His name is Jerome. He naps by the garden signs, most of the day.
He is the troublemaker of the bunch, He can be helpful when he wants to be, but he is also the first one to complain that gnomes are not appreciated. His main job is to take care of the weeds in your garden, when you find many weeds he has been slacking off or, it is speculated sometimes that he plants them himself, just because he is in a cranky mood, which is about all of the time. If you see Jerome napping, it’s best just to leave him alone unless you
are in the mood to pull weeds.




This handsome little fellow is Alfred, He is a dreamer, and can usually be found on your garden bench or swingjust daydreaming most of the time. It is his job to make sure everything runs smoothly in your garden, He is the leader of the gnomes and finds uses for all of the gnomes. That is the only requirement to live in the gnome village, all gnomes must have a useful job to stay in this little community of the gnomes. Alfred is also the statue repairman and he keeps your statues clean and fixes the broken ones.


There are many websites on the Internet that have garden gnomes for sale, and even a few who sell gnome accessories too. My favorite accessories are mushrooms and gnome doors and windows for you to create your own gnome village. These doors are so cute and look adorable on trees, birdbaths, rock walls hills, and many other things. You could just set them out and let the gnomes decide where they want to live. But I like to decide where things go in my garden, myself. There is a very talented man in Florida who makes gnome doors and windows as well as many other great items in his own workshop. You can visit his site at http://www.winslowcollection.com/



There are so many ways to make your own gnome village, and as usual you can find a lot of information on the Internet. All gnome villages I have seen have mushrooms. And a few have wishing wells and of course bridges if they have water that the gnomes have to cross. I have even seen some outhouses for,(well you know). There is a website called Gnome Garden that has a photo gallery with many Gnome pictures. They sell Gnome accessories and have quite a bit of info on the history of gnomes. You can visit them at http://www.gnomegarden.net/


I can’t wait to start my own Gnome village and have several of these happy playful helpers in my garden. The only problem is deciding which ones I want to add first. There are so many I like. I just can’t make up my mind.

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