British Gardening Culture

Phew.. after quite a search I found these little rascals hiding under the potting bench....and i beg to differ ...trolls indeed! What an insult to those dear little creatures who so diligently guard our gardens.

Gnomes are reputedly from scandinavian descent , though most cultures have their equivelant in one form or another. The first known reference to the word Gnome is attributed to Paracelsus the Swiss alchemist who listed them as elementals.

The first garden gnomes were thought until quite recently to be Germanic in production. it was however an erroneous assumption as researchers now believe this honour is Polands.

Their introduction to England was in 1847 by Sir Charles Isham for his gardens at Lamport Hall Northamptonshire, where surprisingly one of the original batch(known as Lampy) still survives,and is insured for a mind boggling million pounds.

Gnomes are not only found in Europe but in every corner of the globe from Iceland in the northern hemisphere to Australia in the southern hemisphere and all points in between.Every country has their own legends for instance in Australia it is believed that the gnomes there are as good at cricket as they are at tending gardens.

One thing though that is found in all cultures is the belief that gnomes are the guardian and nurturers of the garden and although they have fallen foul of the garden fashionista's in recent years long may they continue to be so.