Blog & News Articles

A huge thank you is due to Vice Chancellor John Meyer who retired from the university after 14 years of service. It was in July of 2011 that John integrated all of the units responsible for our outdoor spaces into the unit now known as the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden—a move he felt would lead the campus to a new level of sophistication and collaboration in its approach to stewarding the campus landscape.

Ellen Zagory, Director of Public Horticulture for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden gives tips on a successful summer garden.

In 2013-14, our staff was fortunate to mentor 13 student employees and 40 undergraduate interns through the Learning by Leading program. Here are some of their amazing accomplishments

The Friends of the UC Davis Arbo­retum Board voted in February to officially change the name of their organization to Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Gar­den. Board Co-President Martha Ozonoff says: “We believe this name change is important as a symbol of the solidarity of the Friends group with the mission and scope of the wonderful organization we support.”

The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden is now on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional social network.

Check out eight summer-blooming plants for your water-wise landscape!

The Arboretum and Public Garden was featured in May on the home page “Spotlight” of the UC Davis California Drought Watch website (shown above as it appeared in spring).

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.

The UC Davis Arboretum Ambassadors received a Community Service Award from the UC Davis Community Service Resource Center in May 2014, recognized at the “gold” level for volunteer service projects.

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

Thank you to everyone who gave to the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden during our region’s 24-hour Big Day of Giving on May 6th! We set a goal of raising $5,000 from 100 individual donors, but, thanks to the generosity of current and new donors, members, volunteers, and our own staff we raised $7,487 from 115 donors. This day was not only historic for our organization, it was historic for the Sacramento region—394 participating non-profit organizations raised over 3 million dollars in one day!

Below is a list of reason’s we’ve put together that we hope will inspire you to support the Arboretum on our region’s Big Day of Giving on May 6th, but we’d also like to hear from you! Why do you love the Arboretum?

Solar-powered light sculptures created by 48 students in Studio in Sustainable Design (Design 127B) taught by Design Department faculty Ann Savageau and Bob Morgan, are currently on display in the Arboretum’s newly-constructed California Native Plant GATEway Garden.

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.

Andy Codd will be selling his tomato, pepper, and herb starts at the Arboretum’s spring public plant sales. Proceeds of the sales will directly benefit the Edible Landscaping Internship program. Purchases will enable students to buy books, tools, irrigation, and other supplies to help them launch their projects.