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In October, the scientific journal, BioScience (Vol. 61, no. 10), ran a feature article on botanical gardens, “The Evolving Role of Botanical Gardens.” In this overview about the role of public gardens in contemporary society, the variety of botanical gardens around the world — which includes more than 3,000 gardens that manage living collections of plants for science, study, and pleasure — was emphasized, along with the conservation work the gardens undertake as modern day arks for plant biodiversity.

Thanks to funding from Museums for America, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and UC Davis, the weedy field at the very east end of the Arboretum will soon be transformed to a garden featuring plants native to the lower Putah Creek watershed. The garden will feature themed plantings and interpretive signs to educate the public about regional flora and fauna, the history of the Putah Creek watershed, and how to create sustainable landscapes with native plants.

Last week the UC Davis Public Garden team put the finishing touches on the campus’s first landscape conversion project — the Shields Oak Grove Meadow. Congratulations to everyone involved in this team effort and to project manager Andrew Fulks, Director of the UC Davis Putah Creek Riparian Reserve!

On October 19, Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum Board President Nancy Shapiro along with her husband Howard, hosted a kick-off celebration in honor of the Arboretum’s 75th anniversary. The evening was a wonderful way to look back at the history of the Arboretum with many of the people integral to its growth and look forward to a strong future as we embark on a campus-wide public garden project.

The addition of Nature’s Gallery Court to the west end of the Arboretum is sure to be a draw for visitors to the campus and the Arboretum; it will serve as an example of how our UC Davis community of volunteers and sponsors supported this installation with their time, creativity and donations.

This pilot project is already well on its way to completion thanks to a collaborative group of Public Garden team members including Andrew Fulks, Director of the Riparian Reserve. who is serving as project manager for this conversion effort. Dave Klippert and his Civil and Industrial Services team are now preparing the space for its sustainable, low-maintenance landscape by removing the grass and hauling the extra dirt away so that Matt Forrest’s team from Grounds and Landscape Services can retrofit the irrigation from sprinklers to drip.

The grass on the La Rue Road medians is now prepped for removal and conversion from a high-maintenance, high-water lawn, to a low-water, low-maintenance, beautiful landscape featuring plant selections from the UC Davis Arboretum All-Star program.

On October 5, 2011 the City Council of the City of Davis unanimously approved a proposal shepherded by UC Davis Arboretum Assistant Horiculturalist Emily Griswold, to allocate $40,000 towards the development of a sculptural gateway feature at the east end of the Arboretum. This area of the Arboretum also recently received grant funding to build a new California Native Plant GATEway Garden.

The Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum hosted its final plant sale for the fall season on Sunday, October 9. The theme of this sale, Growing a Green Future, celebrated the UC Davis Arboretum’s 75 years of sustainable gardening by showcasing landscape plantings that save water, reduce pollution, support native pollinators and still manage to provide jaw-dropping beauty!  Attendees learned that by making smart planting choices means they really can have it all!