GNOMES' SWEET HOME

Jacko’s place is hard to miss. As you drive into the southern Newcastle suburb of Belmont on the shores of Lake Macquarie, his corner block comes into view in a riot of colour.

Drawing nearer, you spot serried rows of brightly painted garden gnomes in what looks like their hundreds, perched on handmade shelves in his front yard.

Look closer — and just about every passer-by does — and you see Disney dwarfs like Doc, Sneezy and Dopey, cartoony owls, ducks and mushrooms, one rotund gnome dressed in an Elvis jumpsuit, another in a Santa outfit and even little soldier gnomes in jungle green.

There weren’t always so many.