How To Get Rid Of Garden Gnomes

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Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley de-gnoming the yard at The Burrow

"Harry learned quickly not to feel too sorry for the gnomes. He decided to just drop the first one he caught over the hedge, but the gnome, sensing weakness, sank its razor-sharp teeth into Harry's finger and he had a hard job shaking it off -- until -- 'Wow, Harry -- that must've been fifty feet....'"

— Harry Potter has his first experience with de-gnoming at The Burrow^[src]

De-gnoming was a term used to refer to the process of ridding a garden of gnomes. This was normally accomplished by physically picking up the gnomes and expelling them from the garden in question. Newton Scamander recommended in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that swinging the gnome around one's head until dizzy and then dropping it over the garden wall was sufficient,^[1] but some wizards, like the Weasley family, preferred to throw the gnomes as far as possible, sometimes even having competitions as to who could toss a gnome the farthest.^[2] Alternatively, a Jarvey can be used to de-gnome a garden, though this was considered inhumane by most wizards, as the Jarvey's methods are "brutal".^[1]

De-gnoming was considered to get easier as the process went on, as the gnomes would emerge from their holes to investigate the process, thus making them susceptible to being de-gnomed themselves.^[2]

Aside from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the subject of de-gnoming was also covered in Gilderoy Lockhart's books Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests ^[2] and Marauding with Monsters.^[3] Given Lockhart's status as a fraud, it was unlikely that these books contained any information on the subject that Lockhart did not steal from a second-hand source. Before this became known, however, Molly Weasley suggested her children consult the title for information on de-gnoming, though they insisted that they already knew how to do it.^[2]

Specialised gloves existed that could be worn for the purposes of de-gnoming.^[3]

In the 1980s, the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch needed de-gnoming due to the gnomes from Rubeus Hagrid's garden relocating there. Jacob's sibling and Skye Parkin took care of ridding the Quidditch pitch of gnomes while Hagrid and Rolanda Hooch watched. Skye, who was training Jacob's Sibling for their house Quidditch team tryout, considered the exercise to have the dual benefit of keeping the pitch neat while providing her protegee with some strength training.^[4]

Appearances

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First appearance)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Mentioned only)
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Harry Potter Trading Card Game
Pottermore
Wizarding World
Harry Potter: The Creature Vault (Mentioned only)
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

Notes and references

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 3 (The Burrow)
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
↑ Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Quidditch Season 1, Chapter 3