Blog & News Articles

Blog & News Articles

Learning by Leading Program Impact | Levy Hernandez

Below is a letter written to staff at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden from a former Learning by Leading™ program participant, Levy Hernandez, who was inspired to share more about the impact the program had on his choice of career and his desire to improve the environment around his home town.

Seasons Greetings!

Resolve to get outside, make a difference

The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden is looking for volunteers! This could be your chance to not only work with nature, give back to the community and connect with new people, but also receive expert instruction and an opportunity to be involved hands-on projects that improve the local and regional environment. Deadline to apply is Friday, January 17, 2020.

Removing Invasives, Replacing with Natives

Wrangling invasive species, searching for seeds, and maneuvering chainsaws, it’s just another day on the job for the Arboretum and Public Garden’s Learning by Leading™ S.E.E. Putah Creek team. This quarter has been a busy one for the team dedicated to restoring and managing the UC Davis Putah Riparian Reserve. 

Why we kiss under a parasitic plant, mistletoe!

In ancient cultures throughout the northern hemisphere, the time around the winter solstice has long been a season of celebration, feasting, and thanksgiving. On the far northern reaches of the Roman Empire, people like the Teutons and Celts had their own winter rituals centering wheat, oak trees and mistletoe.

The Central Valley garden in winter

In California’s Central Valley, the onset of winter’s cool, wet weather marks the beginning of the growing season for California native and Mediterranean climate plants. Comparable to early spring in colder, continental climates, this is the season when root growth begins and summer drought-adapted plants emerge from dormancy, leafing out and, in some cases, bursting into bloom.

Taylor’s Pollinator-Friendly Picks

The Arboretum Teaching Nursery is here for you at the turn of the year to bring you another edition of “Tried and True and something New.” Find some perennial favorites that are sure to brighten up your garden as the weather warms.

Learning by Leading™ Alumni Profile: Kendal Hicks

Kendal Hicks joined the Learning by Leading™ program in 2017 and served as the co-coordinator of the new Waterway Stewardship Internship. Along with her mentor, Nina Suzuki, and fellow co-coordinator Tiffani To, Kendal developed the internship from scratch, creating curriculum, hiring interns and naming the internship!

Detours Lead to Exciting Upgrades

The Mary Wattis Brown Garden of California Native Plants on the south side of Lake Spafford will be temporarily closed this winter for a major path upgrade. If all goes as planned, the garden will open again in the late spring or early summer.

Sustainable Horticulture interns shape campus

From outside Bainer Hall to the Social Sciences Building (aka Death Star) courtyard, the Arboretum and Public Garden’s Learning by Leading™ Sustainable Horticulture interns have been hard at work weeding, mulching, pruning, deadheading and adding new plants in landscapes all over campus throughout fall quarter. As part of this internship students leave lasting changes as they shape campus by creating and maintaining sustainable landscapes.

New Turf for SmartLawn Team

The Learning by Leading™ SmartLawn team, together with CCUH, is helping aid drought and water conservation efforts by testing different types of turf and irrigation methods to determine which combination is most efficient for California homeowners. Their test plots can be seen around the Western Center for Agricultural Equipment. 

Popular ginkgo tree showcases cross-cultural addiction

Art installation created by Rocio Perez, a student in Professor Robin Hill's Intermediate Sculpture Class entitled Addiction, 2019, features dozens of fake plaster cell phones hanging from a popular ginkgo tree in the UC Davis Arboretum's East Asian Collection.