Celebrities call for permanent end to gnome ban at Chelsea flower show

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Bill Bailey and Alan Titchmarsh paint gnomes for king’s garden at event, in one-off to raise funds for RHS campaign

Garden gnomes should make a permanent return to the Chelsea flower show, say celebrities who have painted the mythical creatures for the king’s garden at this year’s event.

At the high-end event, which kicks off on Tuesday in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, south-west London, the “tacky” statues have been frowned upon since 1927. Speaking at the show’s press day, the comedian and musician Bill Bailey and the gardener and author Alan Titchmarsh urged the Royal Horticultural Society to lift the gnome ban permanently.

This year, the show has made a one-off decision to ease the prohibition to raise funds for the RHS’s campaign for school gardening, an initiative to get children involved in horticulture. The gnomes will be auctioned off during the week.

Bailey, brandishing the lawn ornament he painted with an attractive purple and gold stripy hat, said: “The origins of gnomes, as you well know, is the Latin gnomus, meaning earth dweller. The Romans had them as guardians of the garden, and to protect against malign spirits. So I think they have been much maligned.”

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Titchmarsh, who painted his gnome in a neat blue suit, agreed: “I think it’s no harm to have little ones sneaking out now and again to remind us that you might as well have a bit of fun.”

Speaking from the king’s garden, which includes an organic vegetable patch and a shed full of “garden curiosities”, the pair described their ornaments.

Titchmarsh said he decorated his to match his outfit: “Mine is in a blue suit to match me and he also has a red and white striped tie but you can’t see it because he has a giant beard.” He added that it took him “ages” to paint it.

Bailey said of his gnome: “Mine is a comment on AI. When my gnome was delivered to me, the top of its hat had broken off, and I fixed it with gold acrylic. This is kintsugi, the Japanese art of fixing, with gold, which celebrates imperfection, which is what AI couldn’t do.”

King Charles is said to have been keen for the gnome ban to be lifted so some could be displayed in a feature garden he co-designed with Titchmarsh. The monarch is a fan of the fairytale characters and has one in the grounds of his Gloucestershire estate.

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David Beckham, who co-designed the garden with the king and Titchmarsh, also painted a gnome for auction, choosing pink and glitter to decorate it with. Other celebrities who have painted gnomes for auction at the show include Dame Mary Berry, Sir Brian May and the peer Floella Benjamin.

Titchmarsh seems to have been convinced by the king to do a U-turn on his views on garden rewilding. There has been a trend in recent years to plant wildflowers, which are viewed as weeds by some traditionalists, and not mow lawns in order to encourage wildlife.

Titchmarsh has in the past derided this as an “ill-considered trend” that could “deplete our gardens of their botanical riches”.

However, the king wanted wildflowers and weeds for nature including nettles to encourage butterflies in the garden.

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The horticulturalist and author Frances Tophill, who also co-designed the garden, said: “I was a bit nervous about putting weeds in there.”

But Titchmarsh said: “They’re wildflowers! I love nettles, they’re good for butterflies. No, we need them in the garden, we want to attract wildlife.”

He enjoyed working with the king and said it was a delightful experience, adding: “Our ideas were very aligned.”

One thing he would like to ban from gardens is noisy machinery such as leaf blowers, particularly on a Sunday. Titchmarsh said: “I think those things take away from the natural world you know, when you suddenly hear something mechanical, and I’d ban anything noisy on a Sunday.”

He added that he never mows his lawn on Sundays, and neither should anyone else: “I haven’t used a power tool on a Sunday for years, not through any religious aspect, but just because I think people should have one day a week of peace and quiet.”

• Chelsea flower show
• Gardens
• King Charles III
• Monarchy
• London
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