Gransnet forums

Gardening

Are you a gnome lover or hater?

(58 Posts)
NanaandGrampy Sat 25-Jun-16 16:00:39

Grampy has been out in the garden catching up on everything after our long holiday .

We have a number of ' interesting' items in our garden including a football shirt wearing gnome, a gift from our little ones for Grampy!

He seems indestructible !! We have a little toadstool house tucked in a bush, a frog climbing the big tree at the bottom of the garden and dotted about a squirrel, a hedgehog and a robin. I can live with all those but am contemplating decapitating the gnome with the strimmer !!

Would that be soooooo wrong ? Is there a penalty for Gnomicide ?

Suggestions welcome smile

BlueBelle Fri 16-Sept-16 09:06:04

No don't really like them to be honest but if a grandie had given me one I couldn't decapitate it it would have to have a place thankfully they are no more interested in them than I am haha

gillybob Fri 16-Sept-16 08:52:25

I had a big, green ceramic frog that sat at my front door. One day a relative made a big deal of saying that he hated frogs and thought they were unlucky . A few weeks later the window cleaner was chatting to my grandson, (who at the age of 4, wanted to be a window cleaner when he "growed up") and he said "oh what's happened to mister froggy?" My grandson was upset that we hadn't noticed it was gone. I know this sounds strange but I can't help but wonder if the relatives comments and the disappearance are somehow connected. hmm

I wonder if the frog was some kind of guardian "angel" as nothing seems to be going right anymore. I know that this probably makes me sound like a looney tune

Grannyknot Fri 16-Sept-16 08:17:53

Gno gnomes, but when my elderly neighbour from across the road died, her son asked me if I wanted anything from the house when they were clearing it out. So I carried across a squirrel garden ornament and it is tucked in between the containers by my front door. It's a nice reminder of her.

We carry palm sized stones or pebbles back from holidays both here and abroad, and husband inks where they are from and the year on one side, and they're dotted around the garden but with the writing side down. I quite like that he does that, but it seems like odd behaviour having written it down. smile

Didn't pilgrims used to carry shells around with them?

Nelliemoser Thu 15-Sept-16 23:48:59

Did anyone else see these ghastly gnomes in ASDA earlier this year?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3495553/Off-heads-Asda-sells-bizarre-gnomes-Queen-beloved-corgis-30-pop-mark-monarch-s-90th-birthday.html

annodomini Thu 15-Sept-16 23:07:26

On a Ramblers' holiday in Austria we used to stagger back to our hotel past a garden which was a veritable gnome home- all beautifully hand carved out of wood - dozens of them, all different. I wanted to take one home,but they were on the large side and my luggage wouldn't have coped. I have to make do with a rather tired owl who could do with a coat of paint.

Coolgran65 Thu 15-Sept-16 22:45:12

I quite like gnomes that are subtle and a wee bit different, i.e. not sitting with a fishing rod on a red mushroom with white spots.

I liked the idea of the fairy door. Off to look on Amazon for some for our apple trees and the plum tree. Subtle ones. smile

Wobblybits Thu 15-Sept-16 22:17:41

Love traditional gnomes (not plastic ones) we also have a fairy garden with a fairy door in our old apple tree.

Liaise Thu 15-Sept-16 21:43:16

We have a gnome which was left on our doorstep in 1982. He has travelled around with us since then and regularly gets a new coat of paint to fit in with the local dress. In the nineties he even made it to the Middle East and was painted accordingly. These days it is Dorset dress or what DH thinks Dorset people should dress in. I haven't seen many people in red hats though. He has been very popular with GDS and keeps an eye on the house along with the green man who wards off bad things. Be careful what you throw away they might get revenge.

1974cookie Mon 27-Jun-16 17:55:46

I absolutely love it when people make little wooden 'Fairy' sized doors, and attach them to the base of a tree trunk.
I guess that it is because, despite my age, there is still a little Girl deep inside who desperately wanted to find a real live Fairy smile

rubylady Mon 27-Jun-16 04:03:16

I have fairies in my garden, along with Minions who do the work around the fairy village or mend the fairy bridge. They are coming to take me away. grin

1974cookie Sun 26-Jun-16 22:27:19

When we moved into our home nearly 20 years ago, we inherited a couple of gnomes in the garden.
Call me a sentimental old fool, but even though I am not a big fan of the 'old boys', I could not bear to get rid of them. My reasoning was that they were living here before us, so this was their home too. They are still with us and I have grown quite fond of them.

Corncob Sun 26-Jun-16 21:03:59

Not into Gnomes,but must admit I have a thin for fairies and have several dotted around.

annsixty Sun 26-Jun-16 20:32:37

Many years ago now a neighbour told us of a gnome disappearing act that had taken place where she lived , somewhere in the Luton area I think. It had gone on for months with no-one ever being caught. One morning ages afterwards the gnomes were discovered very early in the morning queuing at several bus stops in orderly fashion at several bus stops in the town.

rosesarered Sun 26-Jun-16 20:22:48

Years and years ago, it was on the news that a garden gnome had been stolen, and it was now sending the owner postcards from all over the world and sometimes a photo of it would arrive, on the beach, at a cafe, on a plane etc.What a great life that gnome had....and it never went home again!

oldgoat Sun 26-Jun-16 20:00:02

vampirequeen. Looking forward to seeing your gnome-mobile. Did you do the conversion yourselves? I believe you only need side windows to have a van reclassified as a campervan, so you can qualify for cheaper insurance.

Lona Sun 26-Jun-16 19:59:29

I'm not keen on gnomes but I do have Patsy Pig on my garden wall.
She was given to me by one of my neighbours because I was always lying out in the sun. It's a pig wearing a bikini, and she gets quite a lot of admiring comments. hmm

Luckygirl Sun 26-Jun-16 19:26:59

We do not have gnomes, but we do have Homer Simpson quaffing a tankard of Duff beer.

vampirequeen Sun 26-Jun-16 17:36:33

I forgot to say that we have a small TRex peeping out from the bushes in the garden.

vampirequeen Sun 26-Jun-16 17:34:07

I swear I haven't made it up, oldgoat. The decals are on order. When the van is finished I'll post a photo.

Swanny Sun 26-Jun-16 17:25:39

My BIL has scattered the garden with meerkats. They are quite amusing but my poor sister despairs of the meerkat birthday cards that turn up for him each year!

Grandmama Sun 26-Jun-16 17:10:54

DDs bought me a gnome (I already had a couple of little ones that one of the DDs wanted when a toddler) which I see as a bit of whimsy. But for my birthday DDs bought me pottery wellies from M&S (2 right ones!!). They are on the compost heap at the moment. What on earth do I do with them? There is a drainage hole in the bottom of them. DH thought they were to wear.

breeze Sun 26-Jun-16 11:52:31

Chuckling. Love it. One moment the passions of Brexit. The next Gnomes! A friend of mine has about 50, all in different sizes, indoors! Another friend had several in the garden. OH said to get rid of or he'd take a spade to them. She left them there. He was true to his word. Came home, all beheaded! They're now divorced. Not because of the Gnomes tho! Although.........

Greyduster Sun 26-Jun-16 11:40:24

I have only one. He's not a gnome really, he's a leprechaun. Here he is. His name is Charlie ( no prizes for guessing why!!). He could do with a coat of paint.

Nannanoo Sun 26-Jun-16 11:30:52

The poor little fellas are having a hard time lately, since all this British Gnome Stores trouble. wink

patd Sun 26-Jun-16 11:05:13

love gnomes, will be getting some when garden is sorted.