Blog & News Articles

Blog & News Articles

Students plant sustainable landscape outside Shields Library.

Sustainable horticulture students convert lawns and more

by Lauren Riebs
Communications Intern
Finance Operations and Administration

The UC Davis campus is always growing – literally! New gardens are sprouting up all over campus, thanks to the Learning by Leading Sustainable Horticulture program. Students are helping transform landscapes in the Arboretum and Public Garden into attractive and sustainable gardens that will thrive in the Davis climate.

SNEAK PEEK: Instinct / Extinct exhibit comes to UC Davis fall 2017

SNEAK PEEK: Instinct / Extinct exhibit comes to UC Davis fall 2017

Late spring, 2016, the Arboretum Ambassadors created about 100 acrylic feather prints on parchment, with the supervision of Design Professor Emerita Ann Savageau. These prints have now  become a part of the Instinct/Extinct— a multi-disciplinary art installation that explores and celebrates the biology, beauty and bounty of the Pacific Flyway, a major north-south flight path for migratory birds in America that extends from Alaska to Patagonia.  The installation is currently at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah.

Arboretum volunteers planting

5 reasons why fall is the best time to plant

“It seems counter-intuitive to many,” says Taylor Lewis, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden nursery manager. “Many think the best time of year to plant must be spring because it’s when leaves bud and things get green again after winter, but if you want healthy plants through our long, hot, Central Valley summers, do yourself a favor. . . plant in fall.”
Needles of Spanish fir

Introducing our one and only Spanish fir

There’s currently only one Spanish fir in the UC Davis Arboretum and it can be found in our Conifer Collection, behind the Arboretum Headquarters. This Spanish fir was acquired from the USDA Forest Service in 2001 and it’s one of the oddest specimens in the conifer collection.
Bayer Community Service Day

Community volunteers improve Arboretum’s Environmental Gateway

Bayer hosted their annual community service day on Friday, October 7, at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. Through a donation of $19,000 and more than 130 employee volunteers, Bayer showcased its commitment to supporting pollinator health and habitat development by assisting in the planting of over 2,000 wildflowers, shrubs, and trees, completing a garden path and helping create a mosaic art feature that will soon be embedded in a pathway near the Arboretum Gazebo.
Image of woman with short gray hair and sunglasses tending to plants at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery.

Volunteers, students put their green thumbs to work

  • by Katie Hetrick

As seen in the Davis Enterprise

Several times a year, the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden invite members and the public to shop from one of the area’s largest selections of attractive, low-water, easy-care plants at their teaching nursery.

Over the course of four hours, dozens of short-term volunteers work to fulfill the needs of numerous new, experienced or even hesitant gardeners interested in finding the plants that look great and support our environment.

Ria de Grassi's lawn

Life after lawn advice: Shop the Arboretum plant sales

Ria takes the commitment to water savings seriously; first renovating her backyard two years ago, and last fall tackling her front yard. Birch trees and high-water turf were removed. Now this east-facing front yard features subtly sloped areas behind two curved walls. This additional hardscape creates a structure for spreading mats of white lantana and red verbena whose long-lasting blooms add color and attract a variety of butterflies.
Image of Stacey Parker's front yard.

Life after lawn advice: start with a plan

  • by Katie Ferguson Hetrick
A year and half after Stacey Parker, GATEways horticulturist for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, took out her front lawn via cardboard sheet mulching, her yard continues to thrive. Her advice to homeowners looking to do the same: start with a plan.