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!

 

Image of four plants each with future favorite climate-ready plant branding around it in green and gold.

Future Favorites - Climate-Ready Plants

The climate is changing, and so are our plant recommendations. Enter Future Favorites, a new and evolving list of plants that our horticulturists have identified as thriving in today’s shifting climate. Many of these plants overlap with the original Arboretum All-Stars, while new additions reflect observations about how specific species are responding to increased heat, changing rainfall patterns, and other environmental challenges.
image of white iris.

Spring Planting 1-2-3

  • by Rachel M Davis

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.

Image of a hummingbird drinking nectar from California fuchsia in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.

Pollinator Plant List: Hummingbirds

  • by Sydney Odman

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

  • by Katie Ferguson Hetrick
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.
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