After a long wait and an unusually dry winter, some of the wild flowers planted along the La Rue Road median are finally putting on a show at the intersection of Russell Blvd. and La Rue Road. The lupine, clover and goldfields you see here will replenish the soil’s nutrients, prevent erosion, and give our team another growing season to make sure the pesky and resilient Bermuda grasses that once called the median home are completely eliminated.

Other patches along the median have not been so flashy as they were subject to compaction and, in some places, complete removal as the result of construction projects taking place along this busy corridor.

Background

The La Rue Median Strip Conversion is the first of two pilot conversion projects to convert high-maintenance turf areas into lower maintenance and lower-cost landscape that will showcase Central Valley ecosystems and Valley-Wise plants. In addition to less water use and less cost to maintain, these conversions will be more attractive and give UC Davis a unique look and sense of place.

This next fall the La Rue Road median will be planted with a showcase of ‘cast-iron,’ regionally-appropriate plantings from the UC Davis Arboretum All-Star program. This timeline and method is considered a ‘Best Practice’ for landscape work involving complete elimination of Bermuda-type grasses and one that will be used on similar projects in the future.

To learn more about this project, please read our archives on this topic here.