Werribee’s Heather Marcus has more than 600 gnomes in her backyard, giving gnomesville a run for its money
The average Melbourne backyard might have a barbie, tables and chairs, maybe even a pool. One Werribee woman has decided to head down a different, magical path.
Wyndham Leader
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There’s a backyard in Melbourne’s western suburbs where a thousand eyes watch your every move.
Now if that doesn’t freak you out, it could well be worth a visit to Heather Marcus’ Werribee property which is home to 600 gnomes and a few hundred smurfs.
Ms Marcus rescued most of the statues, which guard her plants and pose for photos, from landfill which she has repainted and restored over the past 10 years
She said her goal was to “spread the message that anything can have a second life (and) be turned into something beautiful for people to enjoy”.
“I’m really concerned about landfill and waste, especially when a lot of these can be in someone’s garden bringing people joy,” Ms Marcus said.
“What we’ve got to do is educate people not to be wasteful and everything can be restored, it doesn’t matter what it is.
“A lot of people know to bring gnomes here when their mums die for instance rather than throwing them away but a lot of these came from the Werribee tip and it’s sad to see people would just throw them away.
“I’m very lucky to have a big garden like this and to have it here I just want to make something of it”.
She started collecting gnomes after she was inspired by a photo her niece sent her of gnomesville, in Western Australia, which is home to 10,000 gnomes.
Ms Marcus, who is a councillor at Wyndham City Council, tried to get an official gnomesville going in Werribee but was “unable to get any traction” so decided to start one in her backyard.
Her garden is also home to hundreds of frog and smurf statues, as well as logs that she collects and repaints to use as platforms for her statues.
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