An arboretum how-to program this weekend asks: "Tired of Mowing Your Lawn?"

If the answer is "yes" (and we think it is!), then you may want to think about converting your lawn to a sustainable landscape of law-water, low-maintenance plantings. Then you can put away the lawn mower, while saving water, energy and money.

The arboretum program is scheduled from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday (July 21) at Nature's Gallery Court (Garrod Drive, just east of the Storer Garden).

MORE AT THE ARBORETUM

Folk Music Jam Session — Pull out your fiddles, guitars, mandolins, penny whistles, pipes, flutes, squeezeboxes — you name it! — and join your fellow musicians during the lunch hour for a little bluegrass, old-time, blues, Celtic, klezmer and other world music. All skill levels welcome. Listeners, too! Noon-1 p.m. Friday, July 20, and Aug. 3, 17 and 31. Wyatt Deck.

Armchair Birding: Plants in Your Yard, and the Feathered Friends Who Visit — Learn how to attract birds to your garden, and what species might fly in — bringing sound and movement to your yard. 9-10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, Arboretum Terrace Garden, next to the former Borders bookstore in the Davis Commons shopping center, First Street and Richards Boulevard.

The Redwood Grove, So Cool! — Enjoy the cathedral-like cool and quiet of the redwood grove and learn about the plants of the redwood forest understory. 9-10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, Wyatt Deck.

Oak Ink and Beetle Juice: Painting with Mother Nature — Artist, illustrator and biologist Ane Carla Rovett leads this all-ages workshop, offering instruction in making oak ink and using a variety of plant pigments in painting. Co-sponsored by the Davis Art Center and the Center for Ecoliteracy. Two sessions: 10 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9, gazebo. Space is limited; registration required with the Davis Art Center: (530) 756-4100, publicity@davisartcenter.org, or in person, 1919 F St.

Exploring Native Plants — A program on gardening with native plants. It can save water and energy, support pollinators, and create a sense of place. 10-11:30 a.m., Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center.

Plant Sale Preview — See the kinds of plants, in a garden setting, in their mature seizes, that will be available at the arboretum’s fall plant sales. 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, Arboretum Teaching Nursery.

All programs are free and open to the public. More information on arboretum events: (530) 752-4880 or arboretum.ucdavis.edu (for directions, click on “Plan Your Visit”).

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