Ellen Zagory, our director of public horticulture was featured in the Sacramento Bee’s “Home and Garden” section on Saturday, May 17, in which she spoke about the importance of using native plants to save water while providing a much-needed habitat to local fauna.

UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden team takes water conservation to new lows!

Ellen Zagory, director of public horticulture for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, is always on the lookout for plants that thrive in our region and serve multiple purposes.  The plants featured in this article will all be available at the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum plant sale along with hundreds of other attractive, low-water, easy-care, region-appropriate plants.

Bill Jordan, the person who coined the term “restoration ecology,” and one of the founders of the modern discipline of restoration, will be giving a FREE PUBLIC LECTURE as part of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden’s “Thought Leader Series.”

With water reserves at all-time lows, water rates reaching all-time highs, and severe water rationing on the horizon, representatives from the staff at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden compiled some quick tips for homeowners whose goal is to save water as well as their landscapes.

Thanks to dozens upon dozens of volunteers and a determined construction crew, the many features of the multifaceted California Native Plant GATEway Garden are taking shape.

Unless you are familiar with all the methods used to ensure that the campus’s stormwater is as pollutant-free as possible, you may have wondered why we bother spreading straw around empty lots. Spreading straw mulch, moistening it, then crimping it into the dirt is one of the ways we can protect exposed soil during the winter months, prevent erosion, and improve stormwater quality—all legal responsibilities that need to be complied with and monitored regularly—especially on a campus of our size.

Thanks to a partnership with UC Davis Environmental Health & Safety, new landscapes throughout campus are growing in areas once eroded by seasonal run-off. The projects are not only improving the campus landscape aesthetically, they are improving our stormwater quality and expanding our collection of low-maintenance, native grasses.

DIY home landscapers interested low-water, easy-care landscapes do not want to miss the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum plant sale.

The City of Davis and UC Davis Arboretum will host a community meeting on Saturday, March 2nd from 1:00 to 3:00 pm to gather public feedback on planned improvements to the Putah Creek Parkway and the east end of the Arboretum. The improvements will include new native plantings, removal of invasive plants, new pathways and benches, habitat enhancement for wildlife and pollinators, wayfinding and educational signage, and safety and visibility enhancements. For the first hour of the event, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, participants will walk the site with project designers.