New Lawn Care Landscaping Trends

Do you have your lawn perfectly landscaped, with a soft, healthy bed of grass, but you still feel your yard is missing that certain something? That pizzazz, that panache, that . . . lawn oranament?

Since the first pink flamingo planted itself in a US lawn in the 1950s, lawn ornaments have become more and more whimsical. Ladies bent over, their bloomers showing. Little plastic dogs who look like they have they are digging in your flowerbeds. You can even have an entire family of realistic-looking deer. But perhaps the most popular lawn accessory is the lawn, or garden, gnome.

The classic garden gnome has been around since the seventeenth century. They originated in Germany in 1840, where they were known as “der Gartzenwerg”. The first recorded residence of a garden gnome was at the estate of Sir Charles Isham, first Baronet of Lamport Hall. Garden gnomes were not simply kitschy little statues back then. Rather they were guardians that brought good luck to the house and garden.

Lawn gnomes did not gain any sort of widespread popularity until 1872. But when World War I came along, the factories that built the clay gnomes were taken over for military purposes. It wasn’t until the 1960s that cheaper, easier to mass-produce plastic gnomes went on the market and became popular again.

But garden gnomes have come out of the garden and into the mainstream lately, appearing memorably in movies such as The Full Monty and recently in the Travelocity Roaming Gnome commercials. The Roaming Gnome travels around the world, sending photos of himself in Paris, New York, and Rome back to his owner, Bill.

The legend if the Roaming Gnome did not originate with the Travelocity commercials. No one knows who was first to kidnap a helpless, no doubt bored lawn gnome and take him on a journey around the world, sending photos of the gnome in exotic travels locations back to his bewildered owners. But now in Europe there is the Gnome Liberation Front, an organization dedicated to “liberating” lawn gnomes everywhere. It is a call to arms to rescue helpless gnomes from the maltreatment of humans, who subject the little guys to the elements, the mercy of pets, and the risk of being run over by the pizza guy.

But, if you think you can treat your lawn gnome with the respect he deserves, you can choose from a wide variety on the market today. You can get them in plastic, clay, stoneware, concrete, in fanciful poses and outfits. They can bring charm and good luck to your home and garden, but be sure to treat the little fellows nicely. But don’t be surprised if one morning you find your little friend gone and start to receive letters from him in the mail!

Another icon that seems synonymous with lawn art is the ubiquitous pink plastic flamingo. Goofy, bright, completely out of place, pink flamingos have been hanging out on American lawns since the Eisenhower years. An early cousin to the plastic flamingo was Charlie the Duck, commissioned by the Massachusetts novelty company Union Products. Designed by artist Don Featherstone, Charlie the duck was so charming that he next embarked on creating something a little more colorful, a little more fun- and in 1957 the pink plastic flamingo was born.

Nowadays the pink lawn flamingo has become a cultural icon. Now they are found not just on lawns, but on shirts, glassware, as party decorations, even as holiday ornaments. They have come to represent a particular era of style in American history. Like the garden gnomes, you can now find them in all sorts of colors, sizes, and costumes. They aren’t just lawn art, flamingos are lawn friends.

Lawn décor seems to adapt well to pranks- the gnomes go on vacation, and sometimes unsuspecting people wake to find their lawns planted with a veritable forest of ‘mingos. Be they funny or fun, kitschy or classic, these lawn ornaments are now part of our American culture, and whether you see them as icon or eyesore, they are here to stay.