Blog

Volunteers plant California natives in new garden

Throughout November and December volunteers from student groups, community members, local Rotary Clubs as well as our long-term and loyal UC Davis Arboretum volunteers, have come out to the future site of the UC Davis California Native Plant GATEway Garden to help plant thousands of native grasses. We cannot thank them enough. Their investment in this educational and community resource is very much appreciated. We could not manage these large-scale improvements without their help.

Hay is for…erosion control!

Unless you are familiar with all the methods used to ensure that the campus’s stormwater is as pollutant-free as possible, you may have wondered why we bother spreading straw around empty lots. Spreading straw mulch, moistening it, then crimping it into the dirt is one of the ways we can protect exposed soil during the winter months, prevent erosion, and improve stormwater quality—all legal responsibilities that need to be complied with and monitored regularly—especially on a campus of our size.

Shovel Gateway sculpture opens!

It’s open! On Sunday, October 27, 2013 community members, donors and stakeholders from the campus and city gathered to dedicate the “Shovel Gateway”—a sculpture created from over 400 community-donated shovels.

Why used shovels?

Throughout the month of October, artist Chris Fennell will be creating a sculpture from community-donated shovels—but why shovels? The idea for creating a vine-inspired gateway germinated in Fennell’s mind years ago; the delay in seeing his vision realized was the result of not having found the perfect location. It wasn’t until he read about the Davis Civic Arts Commission’s request for proposal for the development of a gateway landmark between the City of Davis and the UC Davis Arboretum that he knew his search was over—he just had to convince the selection committee. His sell, as it turns out, was easy.

Update on stormwater quality improvement projects

Thanks to a partnership with UC Davis Environmental Health & Safety, new landscapes throughout campus are growing in areas once eroded by seasonal run-off. The projects are not only improving the campus landscape aesthetically, they are improving our stormwater quality and expanding our collection of low-maintenance, native grasses.

City of Davis, UC Davis Arboretum seek community input on greening project

The City of Davis and UC Davis Arboretum will host a community meeting on Saturday, March 2nd from 1:00 to 3:00 pm to gather public feedback on planned improvements to the Putah Creek Parkway and the east end of the Arboretum. The improvements will include new native plantings, removal of invasive plants, new pathways and benches, habitat enhancement for wildlife and pollinators, wayfinding and educational signage, and safety and visibility enhancements. For the first hour of the event, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, participants will walk the site with project designers.

City of Davis and UC Davis Arboretum partner on greening project

The City of Davis, the UC Davis Arboretum, and a number of partners have recently been awarded a grant of $891,304 from the California Strategic Growth Council for the Downtown Davis Parkway Greening Project. The 5-acre project area includes 3.5 acres along the Putah Creek Parkway, where a bike path west of Olive Drive connects the bike tunnel under I-80 with the bike tunnel under the railroad tracks.

Landscape improvements in west end of Arboretum to improve stormwater quality

You may have noticed that we’ve installed hundreds of yards of erosion control fabric along the banks of the waterway at the west end of the Arboretum. The banks were prepped and seeded with a mixture of native grasses and covered with this material to assist in establishing the vegetation. This project is part of a partnership with UC Davis Environmental Health and Safety to improve our campus’s stormwater quality.

Partnership with campus Environmental Health & Safety improves landscape and stormwater quality

Thanks to a partnership Andrew Fulks, Director of the UC Davis Putah Creek Riparian Reserve and Campus Naturalized Lands, has stewarded with the UC Davis Environmental Health and Safety department (EH&S), the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden team is tackling a few landscape improvements to reduce the amount of sediment in the campus’s stormwater run-off.

Oak grove meadow conversion update 10.25.12

The mix of meadow grasses planted last year to replace a high-maintenance, high-water lawn west of the Peter J. Shields Oak Grove continues to thrive. See photo below. (Capturing the majestic oaks before they lose their leaves also helps highlight the dramatic makeover!)