Arboretum

UC Davis Arboretum

According the official UC Davis Arboretum site, the UC Davis Arboretum (Known as "The Arbo" to some locals) is:

• a living museum
  

• an outdoor classroom
  

• a public garden with over 4,000 kinds of trees and plants
  

• a beautiful place for active recreation or peaceful contemplation

Might I also add:

• a romantic place to take a date on an evening walk

Furthermore:

• The distance for the whole loop of the Arboretum is Approx. 3.5mi.

The UC Davis Arboretum occupies 100 acres of land along the south edge of campus, along the banks of the old north channel of Putah Creek.

Read a feature story about the Arboretum in Davis Life Magazine.

25 Oct, 2007 28-Apr-2006 12-Feb-2005 12-Feb-2005

The Waterway

A sign on the edge of Lake Spafford

This stretch of waterway is now a fairly stagnant pool rather than a working creek and various experiments in aeration can be found along the eastern part of the creek. There is one large, central, lake area, immediately east of Mrak Hall. This lake is commonly referred to as Lake Spafford (location: 38.3215N by 121.4449W) , so named for Lois Spafford. She gave $20,000 to establish the Ed and Lois Spafford Endowed Arboretum Maintenance Fund. Her late husband, F. Edwin Spafford, was ASUCD President in 1953. From 1954 until his retirement in 1987, Ed made many lasting contributions to the University of California and to the Davis campus. Lake Spafford, near Mrak Hall in the UC Davis Arboretum, is named for Ed.

There is a working boat house at the (unnamed?) body of water west of Putah Creek Lodge.

The Plant collections

One of the 4000+ plants that inhabits the Arboretum

There are 18 distinct plant groupings in the arboretum, maintained by the 1100+ member Friends of the Arboretum group, which is always looking for members (which costs money), or you can volunteer. The plant collections are:

• Storer Garden (Perennials for Central Valley gardens)
  

• White Flower Garden & Gazebo
  

• Shields Oak Grove
  

• South African Collection
  

• Mediterranean Collection
  

• Early California Garden
  

• South American Collection
  

• Southwest US/ Mexican Collection
  

• Acacia Collection
  

• Conifer Collection
  

• Valley Oak Grove
  

• Desert Collection
  

• California Foothill Collection
  

• Mary Wattis Brown Garden (California native plants)
  

• T. Elliot Weier Redwood Grove
  

• North Coast Collection
  

• Australian Collection
  

• Arboretum Terrace Home
  

• Demonstration Garden
  

• Warren G. Roberts Redbud Collection

Each one features a different set of plants, and all survive or thrive in Davis's moderate Mediterranean climate. The map of the gardens will be helpful if you're looking for a specific plant group. As of 1997, the arboretum contained 151 different Plant Families.

Annual events

UC Davis's annual Picnic Day holds one major event in the arboretum: the Picnic Day Battle Of The Bands. Not to be missed!

Other events, focused around the plant and animal life present in the arboretum, are organized by the Friends of the Arboretum and are held at regular intervals.

Animal life

Some of the animals that can be spotted in the arboretum include: butterflies, ducks,frogs, geese, cormorants, raptors(hawks), peacocks, Herons & Egrets, rabbits, squirrels, fish, and turtles. See also: Town Wildlife

• Somebody want to add to this?

One omnipresent creature in the arboretum area (and the nearby sections of Davis and the UC Davis campus) is the duck.

The ducks feed on grubs in the grassy areas surrounding the waterways of the arboretum and on the scummy substance that lines the bottom of the waterways. If grubs and scum were all the ducks had to feed upon, there would be quite a few less of them (see the page on Ducks for info on overfeeding).

A plethora of other wildlife inhabit the arboretum, including bees, pretty butterflies, and fish:

Yes, fish can survive in the Arboretum waters...

A UC Davis water tower overlooks the Arboretum

What to do there

Fragrant flowers. Some type of lilac? Anyone know? (looks like wisteria to me but the leaves are funny)

In addition to the aforementioned romantic walks, the arboretum is also used by inline skaters, bicyclists and runners/joggers. Most of the arboretum is not lit by streetlights at night, but crime in the Davis area is rare and the arboretum is, generally speaking, a safe place to spend time, even after dark. With the arboretum's connection to the South Davis Bike Path, it makes a useful bike-friendly route to the core of the UC Davis campus from South Davis. Many UC Davis students live at Solano Park, a university-run apartment complex at the northeast end of the arboretum.

Additional Arboretum Locations

Directions

• Arboretum Terrace Garden
  

• Arboretum Nursery at Orchard Park
  

• Arboretum Gazebo
  

• Arboretum Bridges
  

• Arboretum Dock
  

• The Foundation
  

• Donald G. & Mildred S. Roberts Tree

http://www.plants.am is a wiki just like this one with a plant encyclopedia and gardening articles.

Comments:

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2008-12-22 14:47:30   The arboretum is very pretty but they have a sign for every single redbud tree, while many other species go unnamed. Why is this? —tierramor

• The redbud collection (one of the largest in the country) was named in honor of Arboretum superintendent Warren Roberts just a couple of years ago, I think. The signs were likely placed in conjunction with that event. I remember a lot of public interest in the redbuds around that time, too. —DukeMcAdow