Outside the box

A few years ago we put out a small questionnaire for some garden visitor feedback and one thing that came up was a request for more information about the plants. Rather than have signboards everywhere, which would never happen in a private garden - maybe in yours, but not in mine! -  I came up with the idea of information boxes. OK they wouldn't happen in a private garden either (I know somebody's going to write to say that they do!) but they'd be less conspicuous than signs everywhere. So we have 20 of these boxes set beside seats, so that visitors can sit down and read them and understand what's around them.

Fine so far, but three things came up that I hadn't thought of. Firstly that people stand in front of the seat, read the laminate and of course can't find what they're reading about 'cos they're looking the wrong way! Secondly, I didn't realise that they would take the laminates with them and if they didn't actually go home with them (some do) would drop them in the next box! So once a week we spend an hour or more putting them all back in the right places!

Thirdly, and this says more about me than the visitors, I can't help commenting on the label on the lid, not written by me. It says 'Please return to the box after reading'! My first thought is 'But I'm too big to get into the box'!

Apart from all that, they've worked well! My extra pic today is of one of the notebook laminates.