University of California, Davis
OP-T2-19: Native Plants

The horticultural staff of the UC Davis Arboretum have identified 100 tough, reliable plants that have been tested in the Arboretum, are easy to grow, don’t need a lot of water, have few problems with pests or diseases, and have outstanding qualities in the garden. Many of them are California native plants and support native birds and insects. These Arboretum All-Star plants can be successfully planted and grown throughout California. UC Davis landscape staff is in the process of both identifying and converting turf and higher-maintenance landscapes into native grass meadows and drought tolerant regionally-appropriate landscapes on campus. By identifying the most used public spaces on Campus, coupled with the landscape type, staff were able to identify dozens of acres of high water use turf areas that were not needed. These areas will be replaced with native grass meadows that will not require irrigation, and will reduce frequency of maintenance. An initial project removed two acres of irrigated turf and replaced it with native grasses, including the California state grass, purple needlegrass. Further information can be found at: http://publicgarden.ucdavis.edu/