Best House Plants For Small Spaces

| September 4, 2019 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Even in minimal living space, you csn always find room for plants. Photo: MiliVanily/Pixabay
Have you ever watched the show on HGTV called “Tiny House Hunters?” Episodes follow homebuyers who want to seriously downsize. By definition, a small house is around 500 square feet. A tiny house is from 100 to 400 square feet. It’s hard to get solid numbers, but most groups agree there are about 10,000 of these tiny houses in the U.S. This isn’t a whole lot different than an average RV. According to the RV Industry Association, one million Americans live full time in an RV. New York City apartments have a reputation for being small, but the average studio apartment is 550 square feet.… Read More

Good Earth Plant Company’s Summer Reading List – Naturally!

| August 14, 2019 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Summer is the perfect time to read a new nature book and get inspired. Photo: Erika Wittlieb / Pixabay
Science shows us getting out and enjoying the benefits of nature will make us healthier. Reading about nature isn’t a bad idea either. How about reading a book about nature at your favorite outdoor spot? Maybe it’s the beach; maybe it’s the park. Maybe it’s a hammock in your backyard. It doesn’t matter. And we just happen to have some of our favorite nature books for you here to enjoy this summer.  Choose any of them, and then choose your favorite spot. Your Guide to Forest Bathing Amos Clifford Amos Clifford is the founder of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs.… Read More

Bring the Heat: Indoor Plants That Like It Hot

| August 8, 2019 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Small sansevierias in pots on a table.
Updated August 2024. We are fortunate living in San Diego where the weather remains close to perfect most of the time, but even sometimes the heat and the humidity can feel overwhelming. If it seems more humid lately, it’s not your imagination. Warmer ocean temperatures generate more humidity. If only they’d generate a little rain! When you feel the heat, so do your plants. Hot summers can be rough, even for your indoor plants. If you’re trying to conserve energy and save money (and you should!) by not blasting the air conditioning, plants can suffer. Plants not native to warm climates or already weak due to poor care, pests, or other issues, need extra attention.… Read More

Our Top Ten Best Plant and Nature Apps

| July 31, 2019 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing
Back when kids like me didn’t have smartphones, we used BOOKS to learn about nature. If you wanted help identifying plants or birds or animals, you used books called “field guides” to take with you to help figure out whether you were looking at a sparrow or a warbler. If you wanted to figure out where a trail would go, you used a paper map. You better not tear it, or get it wet! But now, technology has put this kind of knowledge in the palm of our hands – as long as your power doesn’t wear out and your wifi is working.… Read More

Get The Picture About Biophilic Design

| July 25, 2019 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Biophilic design is a trend transforming modern workplaces. Infographic: NewPro Containers and Green Plants for Green Buildings
Are you not entertained? We try to use the Good Earth Plant Company blog to provide information and educate people about plants, and do it in an entertaining way. Last week at the Society of Professional Journalists San Diego Chapter annual Journalism Awards, the Good Earth Plant Company blog was named the Best Digital Blog in San Diego County! Thank you SPJSD. You like us, you really like us! But we also recognize different people have different preferred ways of learning and absorbing information. Depending on which theory you prefer, there are either seven learning styles, or four. The VARK theory counts four: Visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinesthetic (learning by doing).… Read More

Grow or Die

| July 18, 2019 | Categories: Awards & Achievements, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Green Roofs, Living Walls, Sustainable Living
When you’ve been in business doing something for more than four decades, you probably think you’re pretty good at it. The mere act of surviving all the challenges running a business throws at you says it all. Plenty of people take their expertise for granted, though. That’s the kiss of death. The minute you think you know-it-all is the minute you don’t. I’m a firm believer in new knowledge and growth as one of the key ingredients to success in nearly anything. And why wouldn’t growth be at the heart of working in a green business like plantscaping and biophilic design?… Read More

The Best Sandwich I Ever Ate

| July 11, 2019 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company, Nature and Wellbeing
With the Bavarian Alps as your view, it's hard not to enjoy a picnic! Photo: Jim Mumford
Many people think the start of summer is Memorial Day weekend. The ‘official’ start to summer is the day of the Summer Solstice, June 20. For others, it doesn’t really feel like summer until the Fourth of July weekend. Whatever you think, summer is now in full swing. Summer means getting outdoors. Even though we have beautiful weather all year in San Diego compared to the rest of the U.S., the longer days and the relaxed attitude combine to draw us outside for more activities. One of those is cooking. Even someone with limited kitchen skills can turn out a great meal on a barbecue grill.  … Read More

Noise Pollution Is The New Smoking

| June 27, 2019 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Environment, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Moss Walls, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Workplace hell: An office like this is a nightmare of noise pollution and distractions.
Do you know what a decibel is? You probably have a general idea it measures sound. A decibel measures the intensity of sound. It is similar to measurements we use for earthquakes – each decibel multiplies the last one. This is because the human ear can pick up an amazing range of sound. Start with silence at zero decibels or dB. A whisper is 15 dB. A normal conversation (normal, not YELLING) is 60 dB. A lawnmower is 90 dB. A car horn is 110 dB – but thank goodness you’re usually not standing right next to it. A firecracker is 140 dB.… Read More

Here Come Summer – Time to Get Out!

| June 20, 2019 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing
It's officially Summer 2019 - and Nature is calling you! Photo: Darius Garza / Pixabay Good Earth Plant Company
Ready or not, here comes summer! More precisely, the summer solstice. The solstice takes place at a precise point in time. This year it will be Friday morning, June 21, exactly at 8:54 a.m. PT according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. People usually refer to the entire day when this happens as the “Summer Solstice.”  You could go to Stonehenge to visually experience the Solstice or closer – visit our client, the  Salk Institute in La Jolla.  This is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning it has the most hours of sunlight and the shortest night.… Read More

Easiest Indoor Plants to Grow For Black Thumbs

| June 13, 2019 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
We know you don't mean to kill your indoor plants. You just need to choose less fussy, bulletproof plants.
By now you’ve gotten the message: adding plants to your indoor environment at home and work provides multiple benefits to your physical and mental health. Study after study confirms plants clean your indoor air of toxins, raising humidity to healthier levels, increase the oxygen levels, buffer noise, calm your nerves and help you focus. And this is just for starters. “But Jim,” you say, “I have a black thumb. I’m a plant killer. I can’t grow ANYTHING. What can I do?” You can always hire a professional and leave it to us (hint). But there are some plants nearly impossible to kill.… Read More