Garden Etiquette

There are a lot of rules on the internet about  garden behaviour. Public botanic gardens have rules about staying on the paths, collecting seeds, photography, picnics, weddings, etc. I am attentive to the rules about photography as there are public gardens that disallow posting photographs of the gardens and others that encourage it.  One of the best known enforcers is the National Trust in Britain with a 'take down' policy that goes after any photographs of National Trust properties by anyone, amateur or professional, for sale or not for sale. So back to a regular garden visitor.  There is often a sign that says 'don't throw coins in the water'.  It's there because copper makes fish sick.  In public water gardens, there is regular scooping out of coins where the water features have Koi. There is also the temptation to touch things - flowers, leaves, statues, etc.  Here's an example of a statue that CAN be touched - a French satirical character that is meant for good luck.  It is at Lotusland in Santa Monica, CA.  Of course, bronze statues are often meant to be rubbed, so that there is some shiny portion.  This was the case with this bonze boar in Kansas City.  Its shiny nose is a testament to the success of the invitation. There's a greater temptation to point out or remove weeds and hand them to the garden owner.  I remember a visitor to my garden pulling out a 'weed' they thought was creeping charlie.  It was Kenilworth Ivy, something I'd been nurturing carefully.  In that vein, here's a piece written by Michael King on garden visitors: "My garden visitors are doomed to failure as they seem to fall into one of only two categories; which is worse I cannot say. One type is more common than I would expect as a well-brought-up Englishman. These are the ones who start pointing out insect damage, faded blooms and enormous weeds that I seem to have been able to ignore for far too long. Perhaps they expect something better and need to vent their frustrations. Are the second group even worse? These are keen and knowledgeable gardeners who eagerly ask to visit, but on arrival take a seat, engage in a warm conversation, but never really bother to get up and have a good look at anything. “Why are they here”, I wonder to myself, convinced that a quick look was enough to reveal that there is really nothing much for them to get over excited about – or are they shy and feel embarrassed to plunge into the rest of the garden? Should I take the lead?"