How to create a pet-friendly garden with plants that enrich your pets' lives and your garden's aesthetic.

Gardening tips for weather changes in May

Helpful tips to start preparing your garden for spring.

In between the last of this season's rains is a great time to get out walk around and make a plan for the coming season.

Winter is here and that means trees and plants alike are preparing for the cold months ahead. Director of horticulture Ellen Zagory has a few tips for protecting your plants against frost.

“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.”

Plants are curious creatures. Unlike us, they cannot get up and get a drink of water when they are parched. By nature, they are rooted to the spot and rely on Mother Nature or a nearby gardener to supply water. Here are five tips for establishing new plants to make your garden truly drought tolerant:

NEED A LAWN REPLACEMENT?

This deep-rooted, low-water use, low-maintenance groundcover is an excellent lawn replacement or groundcover in sun or partial shade. It grows tightly to the ground, suppressing weeds once established, and is bred to be sterile so it will not reseed in places where you don’t want it.

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