Sustainable Gardening

Sustainable Gardening

The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden is committed to practicing, promoting and teaching about sustainable horticulture. Below are articles we've written on specific topics related to sustainable landscaping at home and on our campus. Enjoy!

 

Spring Planting 1-2-3

Here are some more tips to establish your plants for a healthy and habitat-friendly garden in 2021!

1. Decompact or Aerate

If you have heavy clay soil, it’s best to decompact your soil before planting. Find a break between rain when your soil is dried out enough to walk on without further compaction. These conditions will make it easy enough to dig and loosen soil by hand or mechanically with a rototiller. Otherwise, if you have well-draining soil, it is best to only dig where you’ll be planting so you don’t disturb overwintering beneficial insects or other microorganisms.

Pollinator Plant List: Hummingbirds

Did you know hummingbirds move much faster and over considerably larger areas than insect pollinators do? With their fast wings, compact size and slender bills, it's no wonder that these tiny birds play such an important role in our environment. Unfortunately, due to climate change, habitat loss and a variety of other human-caused influences, researchers consider nearly 15% of hummingbird species vulnerable to extinction. 

No Flower? No problem! Think outside the bud

Staff at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden hope to educate their community to think outside the bud, set up their landscapes for an incredible, year-round display and, at the same time, prepare their landscapes for our area’s inevitably intense summer heat.

Drought Resources

Drought Resources 

This page contains links to multiple resources that can help with your effort to save water, create your own low-water landscape and more!