UC’s Landscape Plant Irrigation Trials invites members of the professional landscape, nursery, and horticultural industries to the UC Davis campus for an Open House Ratings Day this fall on September 27 and 28, 8am- 12pm (you may choose either Tuesday or Wednesday).  You will be able to walk through the fields and rate plants at the end of their second year in the ground, and chat with researchers about the trials and plant water use.

All new landscape plants undergo evaluation in plant trials before being introduced to the market.  At the University of California, these trials take on the additional aspect of screening for performance under several levels of reduced irrigation to judge their suitability for California’s new low-water landscapes, and to place them in water-use categories. 

All the plants in the trials were irrigated for a full year on an establishment irrigation schedule at 80-100% of ET₀ (reference evapotranspiration)_. Their second year they receive one of several irrigation treatments based on the WUCOLS categories of Low, Moderate, or High. This is the third open ratings event of the year (previous events were in spring and mid-summer), and you will be seeing plants at the end of a full growing season on one of the three levels of deficit irrigation.

To join us on one of the days, register for the event online.