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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!

Do this now to get your garden ready for spring!

Tue, January 31, 2017

Environmental Education

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.

Image of sustainable gardening demo beds outside the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery.

Teaching nursery demo bed planting plan

Tue, August 02, 2016

Environmental Education

Use the Arboretum All-Stars planting plan from the landscape outside the west fence of the Arboretum Teaching Nursery as an inspiration for your home garden. Click here for a printable pdf.

Image of Arboretum All-Star Iris Canyon Snow.

California native planting plan

Mon, August 01, 2016

Environmental Education

Plant this California Native Garden at home. The design below was developed for your home garden by Arboretum experts. The plan below is based on a 10-foot by 10-foot garden bed. Click here for a printable pdf version.

Image of California fuchsia in the UC Davis Arboretum's Mary Wattis Brown Garden of California Native Plants.

Low maintenance planting plan

Mon, August 01, 2016

Environmental Education

Plant this Low-Maintenance Garden at home. The design below was developed for your home garden by Arboretum experts. The plan below is based on a 10-foot by 10-foot garden bed. CLICK HERE for a printable pdf version.

Image of Autumn sage in the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery's demo bed.

Wildlife planting plan

Mon, August 01, 2016

Environmental Education

Plant this Wildlife Attracting Garden at home. The design below was developed for your home garden by Arboretum experts. The plan below is based on a 10-foot by 10-foot garden bed. Click here for a printable pdf version.

Life after lawn: Replace your lawn and feed the world?

by Katie Ferguson Hetrick
Thu, March 17, 2016

Community Engagement

Now, as landscapes are being revamped due to the drought, and lawns are removed or let go, the UC Davis campus, the city and its residents are in a position to serve as an example of how urban areas — particularly urban areas in the heart of agricultural country — can support global crop production through small changes in landscape choices.

IN THE NEWS: Fall is time to replace lawns, gardens with water-wise plants

Fri, November 06, 2015

Environmental Education

If you allowed your lawn to die this summer to save water, now is the time to replace it with water-wise landscape plants, say landscape specialists from UC Davis. Autumn, with its cooler weather and anticipated winter rains, is the best time in most areas of California for landscape planting.

LIFE AFTER LAWN: A Davis Backyard Transformation

by Katie Ferguson Hetrick
Tue, October 06, 2015

Environmental Education

Are brown lawns the new normal? Facing that question a year ago, Ria de Grassi, longtime Davis resident, removed her backyard lawn and hopes sharing her experience can help others who struggled, like her, with where to begin.

IN THE NEWS: Going native with an eye on water

Tue, May 20, 2014

Environmental Education

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.