Taylor Lewis, nursery manager for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden shares tips on things gardeners can and should do in winter.

The weirs in Phase One of the Arboretum Waterway Maintenance and Enhancement Project are functioning beautifully. They allow water to flow from the east end of the Arboretum Waterway (where the weirs are located) to the west end of the Arboretum Waterway (near the Equestrian Center) where pumps send the water all the way out to Putah Creek. Once here, the water eventually reaches the San Francisco Bay.

The majority of the Arboretum is still open for walking, jogging, strolling, smelling the flowers and all the other activities you normally enjoy in the Arboretum except the portion between our Australian / New Zealand collection at the east end of the Arboretum up to, but not including, the Redwood Grove.

Open during construction!

As the holiday season approaches and guests start traveling to town, please remember that the Arboretum is open during construction!

We’re still finishing up Phase One of the Arboretum Waterway Maintenance and Enhancement Project, but the construction fencing located in T. Elliot Weier Redwood Grove and Lake Spafford areas is now removed! We expect the pump controller to be programmed by the end of November. Once it is ready, we can turn the pump on and see the water flow over the weirs.  If the weather holds out, you can also expect to see some new plants getting planted around the weirs in December.

The construction dam is down and water is now back in parts of the phase one project area. (Phase one of the Arboretum Waterway Maintenance and Enhancement Project extends from the easternmost portion of the waterway all the way to Wyatt Deck near Lake Spafford.) We're now working with contractors to test and optimize the pump system, which is an essential part of the waterflow in the Arboretum Waterway.

On the west side of the UC Davis Arboretum, close to its teaching nursery and near the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, is the largest Arboretum garden expansion in decades. The area features a variety of demonstration gardens and landscapes that highlight ecological solutions to common urban impact problems including water pollution, ground water depletion, and pollinator habitat loss.

When creating gardens to attract butterflies, expand your palette beyond plants that only provide nectar for mature butterflies. There’s another type of plant, called larval host plants, that any well-rounded butterfly garden needs.

The importance of bees, the lifecycle of a pipevine swallowtail butterfly, the history of Putah Creek, the benefits of a rain garden—these are just some of the topics covered by the new interpretive signage coming soon to the Arboretum GATEway Garden and Putah Creek Parkway explore.

If you are looking for your next favorite plant, you will be blown away by all that’s new in our fall inventory. For those of you in the market for our traditional “staple” plants, fear not! We will always grow our core selection of regionally appropriate species. The Arboretum All-Stars you know and love will always have plenty of table space reserved.

Citizen scientist Ria de Grassi confirms discovery of a new larval host plant for buckeye butterflies.