UC Davis Arboretum & Public Garden

UCD Students Assess the Hydrology of Putah Creek Parkway

Katie Hetrick — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:39:26 +0000

Students in Dr. Gregory Pasternack’s “Field Methods in Hydrology” class recently put the finishing touches on a report they crafted as part of a Downtown Davis Parkway Greening Project site analysis. Pasternack and his class were recruited by Emily Griswold, Director of GATEways Horticulture and Teaching Gardens at the Arboretum, after questions arose about the hydrology of the highly modified Putah Creek Parkway site. The portion of the channel selected for renovation retains the original creek channel topography, but is no longer connected to the creek or any surface water flow. So, how far below the old channel is the water table, is there any underground flow through it, and how would that affect proposed planting for the site? These were the main questions that students needed to tackle for their Hydrology 151 final project. The result is a remarkably comprehensive seventy page site assessment written by the class incorporating historical and topographical analysis, hydrologic analysis, plant & soil analysis, and a water balance model. Final products include a map of where ponding is most likely to occur on site (great for knowing what to plant, where) and a delineation of the watershed boundaries for the project area.

Everyone loves to talk about collaboration and working across boundaries to create successful partnerships, but here is a case of practicing what we preach! Never mind that this project is already the result of an innovative collaboration among the City of Davis, UC Davis Arboretum, UC Davis Administrative and Resource Management Division, Yolo County Resource Conservation District, TreeDavis, Putah Creek Council, Fulcrum Capital, Cunningham Engineering, and private landowners. The addition of Pasternack and his students has created a veritable melting pot of knowledge, experience, and resources for the Downtown Davis Parkway Greening Project. Interested in knowing more than you could possibly “absorb” about the hydrology of a historical reach of Putah Creek? Check out the students’ report!

Putah Creek Parkway Hydrology Report

Homestays needed for international scholars

Katie Hetrick — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:58:20 +0000

If you have some space in your home between June 14 and July 7 (or even a part of that time), and you enjoy getting to know people from around the world, please consider helping host one or two of the Society for Conservation GIS scholars (SCGIS)! This summer between 17 and 25 young adult international visitors will be coming to Davis to attend specialized GIS training provided by the Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS). These international scholars (usually between the ages of 22 and 40) were selected from a global pool of applicants. They will be in the US for about five weeks, and for three of those weeks they will need housing in Davis. This will be the fourth summer that the Davis community has hosted the SCGIS scholars. Scholars will be in class at UC Davis (in a computer lab) 8-10 hours per day, sometimes including Saturdays, and will often eat meals together after class. SCGIS will provide them with funds to cover the cost of their food, but because of a limited budget, SCGIS cannot afford hotels. After leaving Davis, the scholars will be attending the Esri International User Conference in San Diego (July 8-12) and then the Society for Conservation GIS annual conference in Monterey (July 14-18). Most will then head home. This is a fantastic opportunity for cultural exchange. Lifetime friendships often develop between host families and scholars, and these often include invitations for host family members to visit and stay with the scholars in their home countries. The countries represented by scholars this year (tentatively) include: Uruguay, Laos, DR Congo, Nigeria, Brazil, China, Mexico, Armenia, Philippines, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Argentina, Zambia, Japan, South Africa, and Indonesia. There are also at least four advanced scholars who may be coming from one or more of these countries: Russia, Cameroon, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Madagascar, China, Argentina, and Canada. It is best if scholars can stay in a guest room (1 or 2 scholars per room), but even a sofa bed in the living room can work if that's what you have. Your commitment beyond a place to stay is minimal, but there will be opportunities to join the scholars for some meals and parties throughout their stay. If this sounds interesting to you, please contact Steve Blum (email: sb17@aol.com or phone: 916.715.4597) or Karen Beardsley (kbeardsley@ucdavis.edu). They will be happy to discuss this in more detail, so please let them know if you have any questions! Also feel free to pass this along to others you know who may be interested.

Downtown Davis Parkway Greening Project: Community Meeting Recap

Katie Hetrick — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:23:45 +0000

Didn’t get a chance to attend the community meeting about the Downtown Davis Parkway Greening Project? Interested in how it all played out? On Saturday, March 2^rd thirty-four community members and stakeholders met to tour the project and discuss the new design. Participants broke into two groups and toured the future California Native Plant Garden (located between the east end of the Arboretum and the Davis Commons parking lot) and a portion of Putah Creek Parkway (which goes under the railroad tracks and connects north and south Davis). The group then gathered to provide feedback on the proposal. And, as often happens here in Davis, a lively discussion ensued! Both pedestrian and cyclist interests were well represented, as were concerns about circulation connections, long term maintenance of the site, project signage, wildlife diversity, and ongoing community involvement. Overall, participants were excited about the proposed improvements and eager for the process to get underway. For those of you who were able to make it to the meeting, thanks for your feedback! It’s an invaluable part of the design process and a resource that we will continually return to as we finalize the construction documents. Look for construction of the California Native Plant Garden to begin this summer! Notes and exhibits from the meeting: Site plan with notes from workshop Summary of workshop comments To read more about this project, CLICK HERE. Check out a SLIDESHOW of photos from the event.

“An ‘Eyeconic’ Weekend,” a free celebration of roses for the public

Katie Hetrick — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:43:31 +0000

“An ‘Eyeconic’ Weekend” a free Celebration of Roses for the public will be taking place at UC Davis May 4 and 5th, 2013. Sponsored by the California Center for Urban Horticulture, Foundation Plant Services and their partners and sponsors this free, two-day Rose Extravaganza will have workshops, tours and a plant sale of fantastic plants. From 11:00 to 4:00 pm demonstrations will highlight methods for growing beautiful roses successfully featuring new rose varieties, best pruning practices, proper plant placement, planting techniques, pest management and disease identification of these hardy and colorful flowering shrubs. In the afternoon, tours of the brilliant colors of the eight acres of rose fields and more than 400 rose cultivars are sure to be a magnificent sight. At the Rose Sale from 10:00am to 4:00pm choose from thirty-two varieties of both classic and novel roses to find the one perfect to add to your home landscape. Free mini-floribunda roses will be given to the first 250 attendees on both days! Roses available will include hybrid teas such as the tough Carefree Wonder that needs little pruning and yet blooms prolifically from spring to fall. Or perhaps select one of the new floribunda Eyeconic Series or the hybrid Hulthemia roses developed by hybridizing with the species Hulthemia persica to produce a new disease resistant bloomer with a characteristic red blotch at the base of the petals. Eyeconic varieties also will be available in yellow, darker pink and melon colors. If fragrance is what you seek consider Baronne de Rothschild a fuschia-pink rose with strong fragrance and beautiful large flowers. Or perhaps Bolero a large, pale pink to white flower with a marvelous rose scent mixed with tropical fruit, great for cutting. Need a climbing rose to cover an arbor? Try the large fire engine red flowers of ‘Winner’s Circle’. Or short on space? Tiddly Winks is a miniature rose that can be one of the work horses in your small garden. Tidy and compact it has an orange-pink interior with a yellow eye sure to brighten that container garden or border over the long season. We hope you will come and attend this great day and help us celebrate the beauty and fragrance of roses. The event is from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Foundation Plant Services (FPS), 455 Hopkins Road. For directions, list of roses and the day’s agenda VISIT THE WEBSITE for the California Center of Urban Horticulture.

Jack Dangermond, president and founder of Esri, shares vision and launches pilot project with Arboretum and Public Garden

Katie Hetrick — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:10:35 +0000

(Readers: please note that this article was used as a promotional piece/press release and refers to a talk that has already taken place.) Remember when you used to need 10 cents to make a phone call outside your home? The nostalgia of questions like this and others is no longer reserved for older generations. The advent of digital books and music, smart phones, and social media have opened our world to whole new professions, networks of communication, ease of access to media and information that were unheard of just 5 years ago. What technology will change our lives next? Jack Dangermond, president and founder of Esri, one of the world’s foremost geographic information system companies, is going to let us know. In an extraordinary talk—arranged in partnership with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Science’s (CAES) Agriculture Sustainability Institute (ASI) and Information Center for the Environment (ICE), and as part of the Arboretum and Public Garden’s commitment to inviting thought leaders to campus—the UC Davis community of students, faculty, researchers and staff are invited to take a guided tour of a new ecosystem of tools available to GIS (Geographic Information System) users Friday, April 26 from 3-4:30 pm in the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) Ballroom. Dangermond’s talk titled, “GIS as a Platform: What it Means for GIS Users,” will inform the audience of recent and transformative changes to GIS technology. Not familiar with GIS? Think you are not a GIS user? Don’t allow yourself to be thrown off by a technical abbreviation. Once the domain of highly trained technical experts, GIS tools, as well as the once difficult to locate data necessary to explore interesting and important questions, are now available anytime, anywhere, and to anyone. If you’ve used a mapping program via the internet, used a smart phone to access location-aware content, or tracked a Fed Ex package…you are a GIS user. GIS is a tool that integrates hard data like a location or an address, with new ways to manipulate that data so it tells a story. Your story might be how you get from point A to point B, or, your story may be infinitely more complicated, like communicating the effects of climate change. If you've got a story to tell and you understand the power of location in telling that story, then this talk is for you. You will leave this engagement with ideas for communicating to your audience in ways you did not think were possible without a team of technical experts and data entry specialists, and that is just the beginning. Date: Friday, April 26, 2013 Time: 3-4:30 pm Place: UC Davis ARC Ballrooms MAP Admission: FREE RSVP: Carrie Cloud at crcloud@ucdavis.edu DOWNLOAD THE EVENT FLYER Visit to serve as launch of Esri-UC Davis pilot project Dangermond's UC Davis visit will also serve as the launch of a ground-breaking Esri-UC Davis pilot project. Dangermond’s passion for supporting conservation science combined with the Arboretum’s leadership and wide-reaching effort to bring GIS tools and education to public gardens, parks and zoos worldwide, has led to Esri selecting UC Davis and its Arboretum and Public Garden as the site to build a suite of cloud-based mobile GIS tools to manage their organization and campus collections. The new tools that result from this work will be shared with botanical gardens and zoos around the world, to help them understand and protect the earth's biodiversity as well as educate their 50 million visitors about critical issues in conservation science. “Over the past 10-years, the UC Davis Arboretum’s curatorial team has secured over $850,000 from a variety of federal grants and donations—not only to map and manage our own collections—this funding has enabled our team to become a leader worldwide for educating other public gardens about the advantages of adopting and integrating this technology into their work flows,” cites Kathleen Socolofsky, assistant vice chancellor of the UC Davis arboretum and public garden. “We are thrilled that this work has highlighted our operation and that our effort will lead to the development of a new suite tools designed to assist our campus to harness the power of GIS.” “With this commitment, Esri is not just supporting the development of tools for UC Davis and its Arboretum and Public Garden. Their goals are much larger,” Mary Burke, director of collections, UC Davis arboretum and public garden, “One of the world’s largest engineering and software development firms is now taking on the cause of public gardens. We are thrilled! The suite of tools that they develop here will be used to support the entire public garden community and one day, we hope, national park conservation efforts.” Dr. Steven Greco, associate professor of landscape architecture, has taught multiple graduate seminars on GIS and assisted in the Arboretum’s effort to secure their GIS-focused federal grants adds, “We’ve accomplished a great deal, but there’s so much more to be done. With UC Davis at the forefront of the development of this powerful suite of tools my hope is that urban planners and ecologists everywhere will be better-equipped to devise ways for natural systems and humans to co-exist equitably and prosperously.” A team from Esri is scheduled to begin this project in May. We will keep you updated on its progress and outcomes as the pilot is currently scheduled for completion this summer.

Animal Science GATEway Garden update

Katie Hetrick — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:41:33 +0000

Have you seen the UC Davis Animal Science GATEway Garden? Be sure to stop by when you get a chance to check out the newly-planted beds and to enjoy the peaceful surroundings, that is, if the nearby donkey is not braying! You may feel as though you are trespassing because there is a gate at the entrance, but it pushes right open to give visitors a closer glimpse of the animals, and, once the interpretive signage is installed, an educational look at the research being conducted here. Take note of the farm equipment re-purposed by creative Animal Science crew members; there's a bench viewing area created using old wagon wheels, another seating area that makes a squeeze chute look inviting (see photo at the left), planters made from feeding troughs, and a picnic bench fashioned from a hay feeder. Under the large valley oak at the center of the garden you will find a selection of California natives known to thrive in this tree's shade. Large sandstone rocks brought in from the upper reaches of Putah Creek provide visual definition and serve to separate the planting areas within the raised beds. As the plants radiate out from the oak you'll find a mix of selections native to the southwest and high-desert including a variety of grasses typically consumed by domesticated animals raised in these areas. Notice the lack of landscaping west of the oak tree? That's a placeholder for a large teaching deck yet to be installed. READ MORE about the history of the creation of this garden here. VIEW A SLIDESHOW OF PHOTOS

Arboretum Drive now open to bikes and pedestrians

Katie Hetrick — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:53:00 +0000

The construction involved in the creation of the newest portion of Arboretum Drive is complete and almost of all of the landscaping installed on this pedestrian and bikeway-only path formerly known as Old Davis Road. In order to ease car congestion near the core of campus, "new" Old Davis Road leads visitors from the UC Davis freeway exit all the way to the City of Davis while the new Arboretum Drive (formerly Old Davis Road) is reserved for bikes and pedestrians. Does none of this make sense to you? Read more about this project and the road changes here. One of the most exciting parts of this transformation was the creation of an Arboretum entry plaza near the campus's front door, just past the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, in addition to an attractive brick walkway leading visitors into the Mary Wattis Brown Native Plant Garden. The plan is for plazas and pathways like this to appear throughout the Arboretum. Narrowing the road and creating a thoroughfare for bikes and pedestrians opened up a significant area in need of landscaping. This portion of the project was managed by Stacey Parker, UC Davis Arboretum GATEways horticulturist. Her volunteers teamed up with other Arboretum volunteer gardening teams to create a landscape worthy of this high-profile entrance and transition seamlessly to nearby gardens. This project also included a new entrance and exit from the UC Davis Arboretum's T. Elliot Weier Redwood Grove and improved transitions from Arboretum pathways to the road. If you haven't been to this area of campus in a while, it's worth a trip just to enjoy a stroll along this new portion of Arboretum Drive without having to worry about car traffic. CHECK OUT OUR SLIDESHOW of photos documenting the progress of this project.

UC Davis receives Tree Campus USA distinction for fifth consecutive year

Katie Hetrick — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:35:10 +0000

UC Davis has been named "Tree Campus USA" for the fifth year in a row by the Arbor Day Foundation! The Tree Campus USA program recognizes college and university campuses that effectively manage their campus trees, develop connectivity with the community beyond campus borders to foster healthy urban forests, and strive to engage their student population utilizing service learning opportunities centered on campus, and community forestry efforts. What does it take to be named a “Tree Campus USA”?

Campus Tree Advisory Committee
Campus Tree Care Plan
Campus Tree Program with Dedicated Annual Expenditures
Arbor Day Observance
Service Learning Project

Congratulations to our Grounds and Landscape Services team for taking care of our trees and keeping them a priority for our campus and the environment!

Update on stormwater quality improvement projects

Katie Hetrick — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:36:07 +0000

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. Funding for these projects comes from EH&S which budgets for stormwater and other environmental impact enhancements on an annual basis. Both Sue Fields and Brent Cutler have been working with Andrew Fulks, director of the UC Davis Putah Creek Riparian Reserve and campus naturalized lands, to identify areas for these types of improvements. VIEW SLIDESHOW OF PHOTOS Read more: Partnership with campus Environmental Health & Safety improves landscape and stormwater quality Landscape improvements in west end of Arboretum to improve stormwater quality

Boy Scout troop helps install trail to connect Arboretum with North Fork Trail

Katie Hetrick — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 19:08:48 +0000

On Saturday, March 23, 2013, boy scout volunteers from Troop 111 and Eagle Scout candidate Dale Shafer helped staff from the Arboretum and Public Garden's Putah Creek Riparian Reserve build the first 800 feet of the North Fork Trail on the old channel of Putah Creek.

Together this team graded the trail, set 80 posts in place, and strung rope the entire length. Andrew Fulks and JP Marié were able to secure both the rope and the posts from the Solano County Water Agency at no cost. This trail is the first segment of what will eventually be a connection to the Arboretum and West Village. VIEW SLIDESHOW OF PHOTOS

Media coverage of shovel drive and plant sale

Katie Hetrick — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:46:25 +0000

Ellen Zagory, UC Davis Arboretum director of horticulture was quite the rock star on local television leading up to and on the day of our first public plant sale on April 6. Getting coverage of both our shovel drive and the plant sale created a ton of buzz that translated into a fantastic day of fundraising for the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum. If you missed any of the media, we've put together a recap below. CBS Good Day Sacramento LINK TO LIVE SPOT Another piece appeared on the evening news, but we haven't tracked that one down yet. FOX 40 The link on the Fox 40 website already appears to have been removed. Below is a link to a YouTube video shot by Katie Hetrick, director of communications for the UC Davis Arboretum & public garden. CLICK HERE ABC News 10 Ellen appeared in the studio on Saturday morning. CHECK IT OUT HERE! This one takes a while to load...give it a chance...hopefully something will appear. What is up with NBC? We hope to get them next time!

Print Promotions

29 March 2013 Davis Enterprise: "Dig in! Shovel donations sought for city/campus art project" 3 April 2013 Davis Enterprise: "The scoop on a sculpture of shovels: It's about stories" 4 April 2013 Davis Enterprise: "Plant sale Saturday benefits Friends of the Arboretum" 6 April 2013 Sac Bee: "Seeds: UC Davis Arboretum presents Durable Delights"

Durable Delights showcased at spring plant sales

Katie Hetrick — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:37:24 +0000

Gorgeous and hearty plants that shine without much polish! DIY home landscapers interested low-water, easy-care landscapes do not want to miss the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum plant sale this Sunday, April 28 from 9AM-1 PM at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery. In addition to the community-beloved Arboretum All-stars—100 tough, easy-to-grow, reliable plants, tested in the arboretum for sustainability—this sale will feature 30 unusual and interesting plants that arboretum horticulturists are calling Durable Delights. “The best plants are ones that demand little of our time, but offer a big return in form, color, flower and durability, hence the Durable Delight name,” explains Ellen Zagory, director of horticulture for the UC Davis Arboretum. Zagory adds, “While wholesale nurseries offer their customers plants in an alluring variety of colors and forms, over the years our team has learned what consistently grows here in our Valley and persists despite our hot summer, cool damp winters and sometimes heavy clay soils.” “Some of these plants may need shade in the Central Valley, but many are able to stand up and sparkle with little irrigation in the hot summer sun,” explains Lisa Fowler, nursery manager, UC Davis Arboretum. Beyond Durable Delights and Arboretum All-stars, customers will find a huge array plants specifically chosen for their suitability to our area’s unique growing environments, trained sales people available to make recommendations as well as stunning demonstration plantings to inspire ideas and design possibilities. Can’t attend on Sunday? You’ve got one more chance. Saturday, May 18, the nursery will be open to the public for the last time this spring season from 9 AM – 1 PM. For more information, visit the Arboretum’s website: http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu. Durable Delights: The List (Click here to download a .pdf; Adobe Acrobat required.)

Agave americana ‘Variegata’, striped agave
Delosperma cooperi, cerise hardy ice plant
Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Compactum’ and ‘Green Cloud’, cenizo
Muhlenbergia dubia, Mexican deergrass
Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Mozart’, Ed Carman’s rosemary
Saponaria × lempergii ‘Max Frei’, hybrid soapwort
Bupleurum fruticosum, shrubby hare’s ear
Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’, coronation gold yarrow
Salvia clevelandii ‘Winnifred Gilman’, Winnifred Gilman Cleveland sage
Anigozanthos ‘Amber Velvet’, The Velvet Range™ kangaroo paw
Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Little Spire’, little spire Russian sage
Dasylirion wheeleri, desert spoon
Iberis sempervirens, evergreen candytuft
Muhlenbergia capillaris, pink muhly
Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’, blonde ambition blue grama
Salvia chamaedryoides, Mexican blue sage
Teucrium fruticans ‘Azureum’, azure bush germander
Beschorneria yuccoides, Mexican lily
Geranium × cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’, Biokovo cranesbill
Epilobium canum ‘Sierra Salmon’, Sierra salmon California fuchsia
Carex oshimensis ‘Evergold’, variegated Japanese sedge
Viburnum tinus ‘Anvi’, spirit viburnum
Ajuga reptans ‘Catlin’s Giant’, Catlin’s giant bugle
Origanum ‘Marshall’s Memory’, Marshall’s oregano
Glandularia aristigera (Verbena tenuisecta), moss verbena
Garrya elliptica ‘Evie’, Evie’s silktassel
Chondropetalum tectorum, small Cape Rush
Quercus tomentella, Island oak
Miscanthus sinensis var. condensatus ‘Cosmopolitan’, cosmopolitan silver grass
Juncus patens ‘Elk Blue’, elk blue California gray rush

Dig in! Shovel donations sought for city and campus art project

Katie Hetrick — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:46:11 +0000

The City of Davis and the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden offer the public, along with their old shovels, a chance to leave a permanent mark on our community as they seek to collect 400 used spades, gardening trowels, shovels of all kinds for use in a campus and city outdoor art sculpture scheduled for completion this fall. Shovel collection will occur weekdays from 8 am to 4 pm at the city offices at 1818 Fifth Street and at the Arboretum’s spring plant sales (see dates and location below) through the end of May. Artist Christopher Fennell will take recycling to new heights at the east end of the Arboretum when he builds a 16 foot tall vine-inspired gateway out of twisted steel pipes and 400 used shovel heads. Funded by the City of Davis Municipal Arts Fund, this landmark sculpture will mark the transition between downtown Davis and the Arboretum and serve as a symbol of town-gown collaboration. The history of this project dates back to 2011, when, at the recommendation of the Davis Civic Arts Commission, the Davis City Council unanimously approved a proposal to allocate $40,000 towards the development of a sculptural gateway feature at the east end of the Arboretum. The proposal, stewarded by Emily Griswold, director of GATEways horticulture and teaching gardens for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, represents the first city art project on campus land. The sculpture project dovetails with city and campus goals to improve pedestrian and bicycle circulation connections and help promote and market the campus and downtown area as an arts destination. Mayor Pro Tempore Dan Wolk has supported the project from the beginning, “I am so excited to see this project come to fruition. It will further connect downtown Davis and the campus and will serve as a focal point for residents, UC Davis students, and visitors to Davis for years to come.” (Download map showing location of sculpture. Adobe Acrobat required.) Last year a committee of campus, city, and community representatives selected Christopher Fennell from an applicant pool of 66 artists from around the nation to design and build the sculpture. Fennell – a sculptor from Alabama with an engineering background – specializes in the creation of large scale public art from dramatic collections of cast off materials. “At a distance this gateway will look like vine inspired ironwork, but up close the viewer will notice that the vine leaves are actually used shovel heads,” says Fennell. “The diversity of shapes, sizes, and rusty patterns on used shovel heads collected from the community will give the sculpture a richness and character that would be unattainable with new materials.” “The use of shovels to build a sculpture in the Arboretum has special resonance because of all the shovels that have been used by staff, students, and com¬munity members to plant the garden’s collections,” says Griswold. “We’d love for donors to give a second life to their shovels through this project, but we don’t want to leave them shovel-free just as spring arrives—so, when you drop-off a shovel at one of our locations, you’ll receive a coupon from locally-owned Davis Ace Hardware good for 15% off the purchase of a new shovel. It’s a great excuse to treat yourself to a new piece of hardware!” Director of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden and Assistant Vice Chancellor Kathleen Socolofsky is thrilled with the timing of this project, “The UC Davis Arboretum has just finished celebrating its 75th year and is moving forward as the UC Davis Arboretum & Public Garden. As we begin to plan what our future holds for the campus, city and community, this sculpture embodies the shared involvement with our region we believe will serve as a standard for all our projects, not just in the Arboretum, but throughout our university landscapes.” The Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum will be collecting shovels for the installation at their spring plants sales. Drop off your used shovel during the dates and times listed below and stay to shop from the area’s largest selection of attractive, low-water, easy-care, region-appropriate plants. Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum Spring Plant Sales and used shovel drive times: SATURDAY, APRIL 6 from 9am-1pm SUNDAY, APRIL 28 from 9am-1pm SATURDAY, MAY 18 from 9am-1pm Location: UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden Teaching Nursery on UC Davis campus at Garrod Drive across from the UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital For more information: Christopher Fennell: http://www.cfennell.org Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum Spring Plant Sales: http://www.arboretum.ucdavis.edu/plant_sales_and_nursery.aspx

Donate your old shovel, see it transformed into art

Katie Hetrick — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:01:00 +0000

Dig in! The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden offers the public, along with their old shovels, a chance to leave a permanent mark on our community as they seek to collect 400 used spades, gardening trowels, shovels of all kinds, for use in a campus and city outdoor art sculpture scheduled for completion this fall. The location and timing of the shovel drive will coincide with the Arboretum’s spring plant sales (see dates and location below).

The Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum will only be collecting shovels for the installation at their spring plants sales, however the City of Davis will be collecting weekdays through the end of May at their Parks and General Services Department building.

Drop off your used shovel during the dates and times listed below:

SHOVEL DONATION LOCATIONS:

Public Plant Sales UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery CLICK HERE for a link to driving directions. SATURDAY, MAY 18 from 9am-1pm More information: Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum Spring Plant Sales City of Davis Parks and General Services Department 1818 Fifth Street, Davis WEEKDAYS from 8 am - 4 pm Through the end of May

MORE INFORMATION:

Davis Enterprise article: The scoop on a sculpture of shovels? It's about the stories by Cory Golden DOWNLOAD DIG IN! USED SHOVELS SOUGHT FOR CITY/CAMPUS ART SCULPTURE by Emily Griswold & Katie Hetrick

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Chris Fennell http://cfennell.org

Taking out turf and trading up: landscaping the La Rue Road median

Katie Hetrick — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:48:31 +0000

(Note: This content also appeared in the Davis Enterprise on March 6, 2013.) The change was gradual—the grass once blanketing La Rue Road median between Russell Boulevard and Garrod Drive faded then disappeared completely in the winter of 2011 leaving a large strip of bare earth exposed along the high-profile UC Davis campus beltway. The change left many wondering, “What is going on there?” Like many community residents forced to question the feasibility of managing their landscapes, UC Davis budget cuts required campus leadership to get creative and transform high-water, high-maintenance lawns to attractive, low-water, easy-care landscapes to reduce operations and maintenance costs. “For such a bland-looking landscape, the hours and resources spent caring for the median just didn’t make sense,” Bob Segar, assistant vice chancellor of campus planning and community resources. “Regular maintenance like mowing required our teams to re-route traffic a couple times a month, not to mention the amount of water required to keep the grass green and fuel to run the equipment.” UC Davis will be taking on more of these types of landscape conversions as the result of a reorganization merging the campus’s professional outdoor design, care and operations staff from the Arboretum, Grounds and Landscape Services, Campus Planning & Landscape Architecture, Civil and Industrial Services and the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve and Campus Naturalized Land into the UC Davis Arboretum & Public Garden. “Taking out turf and designing a landscape to take its place is not as easy as it may sound,” Cary Avery, associate director of grounds and landscape Services. “Just getting rid of the Bermuda grass took about a year—it’s tricky. Bermuda’s extensive root system and winter dormant period meant we had to give the grass at least two growing seasons followed quickly by herbicide application and removal. We didn’t want to risk it coming back to roost in our new landscape.” Yesterday, after almost a year and a half of planning and preparation, we can now begin to appreciate the final transformation. Teams from the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden planted the first third (from Hutchison Drive to Garrod Drive), of the almost 50,000 square foot area with plants evaluated by staff horticulturists and landscape architects to be regionally-appropriate for this space as well as suitable for our unique valley conditions. Landscaping for the rest of the median is scheduled for completion in early fall. Andrew Fulks, director of the putah creek riparian reserve and campus naturalized lands, emphasized the water savings. “The shift from overhead pop-up spray irrigation to a sub-surface drip irrigation system will reduce our water use substantially. Once we have run the system for a few months in the summer we’ll know the exact amount of savings, which we can use to project future campus-wide efforts at water reduction.” Ellen Zagory, director of horticulture for the arboretum selected the plant palette, “These plants demand little of our time yet offer a big return in form, color, flower and durability. They’ll stand up and sparkle even with little irrigation in hot summer sun.” “Our goal is that this project will serve as a best practice case study of lawn removal for institutional landscapes everywhere,” Kathleen Socolofsky, director and assistant vice chancellor for the arboretum and public garden. “We are documenting our process and will report back on our resource savings from less labor, fuel, emissions and water use, as the landscape matures.” For home gardeners interested in transforming their lawns into more sustainable landscapes, UC Davis Arboretum plant sales are a great resource. The sales feature a broad variety of low-maintenance, drought-tolerant plants and are staffed by expert volunteers and staff horticulturists who can help advise customers on landscaping projects. The Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum Member Appreciation Sale will be this Saturday, March 9 from 9 am-1pm at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery on Garrod Drive across from the veterinary medicine teaching hospital. “This sale is for Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum members, but anyone can join at the door. Members receive 10% off their plant sale purchases at all sales, an additional $10 off their purchase at the March 9 sale, free or discounted entry to hundreds of public gardens nationwide as well as discounts at local nurseries. The benefits far outweigh the cost,” Suzanne Ullensvang, resource development manager for the arboretum. “Members of the Davis Botanical Society are also welcome and receive the same discounts.” Links for more information: PLANT SALES and MEMBERSHIP LAWN REMOVAL and DESIGN TIPS LINK TO SLIDESHOW OF PHOTOS