If you can’t beat them join them! Dean Ridley
Will the admittance of garden gnomes into the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower show for the first time in 100 years make them the number one garden ornament this year?
The Haskins Garden Centre group expects to see a boost in the gnomes’ popularity but say that they face greater competition every year from an ever growing range of realistic animal ornaments and characters including meerkats.
Dean Ridley, Retail Operations Manager for Haskins, says that gnomes have been fighting back to gain their market share, “Nowadays the humble garden gnome is not just a happy looking chap with a fishing rod. They come in all shapes and sizes performing a wide range of activities from wheelbarrow pushing, using watering cans to bucket carrying. We know of many customers who collect them and have vast populations in their garden. They do still appeal to young and old alike because they are colourful creatures!”
The centres will be watching closely to see which trends catch the eye of the public at the centenary Chelsea Flower show in July and become fashionable for homeowners in order to plan for the next season.
