Even Cheektowaga missed my favorite tasteless ornament--the bending gardener's back end in technicolor plywood. No comment.
Religious sculpture is another popular theme in lawn ornaments. While one cannot fault the genuine devotion that prompts these displays, one cannot also help but wish that the statue of the Blessed Virgin was in more appropriate company than is usually her fate. And one would prefer a leafy bower for her to dwell in, rather than the upended bathtub that far too often completes her shrine. It seems perverse to enshrine those we thank for nature's bounty not in trees, shrubs and flowers, but in plastic, plywood and porcelain.
Had enough? Or do you want a chance to express your own opinion on lawn art? You can certainly contribute to the discussion here--but you can also vote in the Art of Dart? contest at Real Gardeners.
Now your garden is your own. Certainly it should be an expression of your personal style--and if your personal style is plastic ducks and plaster gnomes--so be it. But are these really your style? Or just what the local stores had handy?
My problem with much of the ornamentation I have described is that it is not personal at all; it is one, gigantic, mass-produced cliche. The classical sculptures are an attempt to appear cultured, yet unless you can afford real marble, too often they are lacking in detail, often clumsily proportioned, and undeniably pretentious. The gnomes and whirligigs and other things so readily available may speak of your tastes --but they also speak for millions of other people. And all of them are probably an unconscious attempt to keep up with the mythical Joneses by showing that we can not only grow flowers in our outdoor rooms, but afford to accessorize those rooms. Gardens should express our personal style, not that of the manufacturers and purveyors of garden kitsch.
By the way--I'm not alone in my tastes. Scroll down the article at this link to find out what Better Homes and Gardens readers have voted hot and not
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