The name of the pink lawn flamingo, "Featherstone", is an homage to the creator of the original pink flamingo lawn ornament, Don Featherstone. All official pink flamingos now carry Don Featherstone's signature on the bottom of the bird.
There are numerous references to William Shakespeare's works throughout the movie. For instance: Hamlet: the house numbers, 2B and Not 2B in the beginning, from Hamlet's soliloquy "to be or not to be"; the moving trucks, from the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern moving company, named for Hamlet's two college friends who visit him at court; Nanette says "good night, sweet Prince" to Gnomeo when she kicks Gnomeo out of the Red yard, which is what Horatio says to Prince Hamlet when he dies. As You Like It: the As U Like It moving company. The Tempest: the Tempest Teapot company truck (also from the popular expression "a tempest in a teapot", meaning an exaggerated reaction). A Midsummer Night's Dream: the flower, over which Gnomeo and Juliet fight, is referred to as "Cupid's flower", which is what Puck applied to the eyes of sleepers to make them fall in love. Macbeth: Juliet says "out, out" to the big dog, and the owner says "damn Spot!", which references Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking attempt to wash the blood off of her hands; on a brick wall, in an alleyway, is painted "3x3", which is a reference to the witches ("by the power of three times three"). The Taming of the Shrew: the glue that the Red Gnomes use to keep Juliet on her pedestal, is called "The Taming of the Glue".
The sign on the bus indicates that the action takes place in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, who wrote Romeo and Juliet, which served as the inspiration for this movie.
The word "Capulet" is spelled out in International Maritime Signal flags on the front of Mr. Capulet's house, in keeping with the nautical theme of the house.
The "cards", with which Fawn and the red gnomes are playing, are actually seed packets.