California Native Plant Meadow

The California Native Plant Meadow is a sustainable landscape planted with California native grasses, sedges and wildflowers. It is part of the Environmental GATEway, which includes the nearby Hummingbird GATEway Garden, Pollinator Garden and Arboretum Teaching Nursery. 

The meadow was once overflow parking for the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden's seasonal plant sales, but now serves as a wildlife habitat for local species and as a stormwater retention basin for the surrounding Health Sciences District including the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital. The meadow is a sustainable way to collect excess rain water from the surrounding parking lot and filter the run-off, which flows into the Arboretum Waterway out to Putah Creek and eventually the San Francisco Bay. The meadow is also a demonstration garden, showcasing plants that perform well in retention basins located in California's Central Valley.

Land acknowledgement statement