What (and Why) are Garden Gnomes?

Garden gnomes. They’re kitschy, they’re retro, they’re a lot of fun. Some gardeners think they’re ugly and tasteless, some consider them to be a colorful way to bring a bit of whimsy into a garden space. While there are no known garden gnomes in the Gardzen Test Gardens, we do see them in other spaces and many gardeners seem to love them. With that in mind, we decided they were worthy of a blog entry, but we weren’t prepared for how rich and complex the history of garden gnomes actually is. Nor were we prepared for the ways in which the myths and stories around them continue to evolve. So, join us we delve into the surprisingly interesting history of garden gnomes. Let’s dig in!

What are Gnomes?

The word “gnome” dates back to the 16^th century, when it was used by alchemists, magicians, and early scientists to describe the small humanoid figures supposedly created as a result of their experiments. “Gnome” derives from the Latin word gnomus, a term coined by those Renaissance alchemists and experimenters which in turn comes from the Ancient Greek term genomos, which roughly translates as “earth-dweller”.

However, there’s a bit more to it. While the word “gnome” is of relatively recent origin, stories of dwarfs, fairies, and other spirits inhabiting mines, mountains, woodlands, forests, and gardens date back to the earliest days of human history and are found around the world. These are universal myths that we all share albeit in various forms and this universality in part led to the creation of both the Renaissance gnomus and its cousin, the garden gnome.

A Brief History of Garden Gnomes

The classic garden gnome statue is a product of the 20^th century—more on that in a bit—but the idea of a small statue in the garden is much older and found around the world. In Sumeria and other early Mesopotamian civilizations, in Ancient Greece and Rome, in Ancient Egypt, gardeners and farmers placed small statutes or figurines in their growing spaces. These typically represented a deity or a spirit associated with fertility, making them a relative of the ever-popular scarecrow. Indeed, larger figurines or statues may have helped scare some birds away, but that doesn’t seem to have been their primary purpose.

This tradition continued in various forms across northern and central Europe, and in the 19^th century small statues of gnomes, dwarfs, and other mythical creatures became popular as home décor in Germany. These were typically ceramic or terracotta statues, and were often painted and decorated in various ways. This fad spread to the United Kingdom in the early 20^th century and while it had some ups and down it surged in popularity in the English-speaking world in the 1930s following the release of Disney’s classic animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Garden gnomes waned in popularity for a bit but the now-classic garden gnome became very popular in the 1970s and has stuck around ever since. Contemporary garden gnomes generally have the classic blue jacket and red pointed hat look, but they can also be styled in different ways or posed doing different activities often with a humorous bent.

Garden Gnomes in the 21^st Century

Over the very late 20^th century and into the 21^st, there’s been a renewed interest in and appreciation of “retro” trends from the 70s and 80s. Garden gnomes have become part of that, which may explain why we see them more often these days than we used to. They’re available in a wider variety of styles than ever before, and are a popular DIY project for creative gardeners and landscapers. They fit nicely into any garden space, including patio, container, and indoor gardens, and they lend themselves towards humor of all kinds. This includes some pranks and practical jokes, like filling someone’s yard with garden gnomes without their knowledge or kidnapping someone’s garden gnome and holding it “hostage”. Some garden gnomes have traveled the world, passed via mail from person to person before returning home with souvenirs of their adventures. While we don’t recommend taking someone’s gnome without asking, we love seeing how the garden gnome tradition is both much older than we thought and still reinventing itself now.

We learned a lot writing and researching this and we hope you learned something from reading it. It really has enhanced our appreciation of garden gnomes and a few may be taking up residence in our Gardzen Test Garden in the near future. If you have a garden gnome, or if some garden gnomes live nearby, we’d love to see photos of them so please share!