Find Outdoor Adventure In Your Own Backyard

| April 3, 2014 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
When we were young, finding new worlds to explore was easy. Just go out back into the canyons or woods, turn over some rocks, climb a few trees or visit the San Diego Zoo. Finding adventure as an adult is harder. Endless demands eat into precious daytime hours, leaving playtime lost to “more important” matters. When I read about a true modern-day adventurer I find myself green with envy. Take Dr. Marc Meyers of UCSD. This lucky guy is getting ready to head out on an adventure of a lifetime, one that nearly killed Teddy Roosevelt a century ago. Imagine a 1,500-mile expedition to South America traveling up the Amazon River studying the flora, fauna and the indigenous tribes you meet along the way.… Read More

Plants In The Workplace Show Major Benefits

| March 27, 2014 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Scientific studies prove it: Plants in our working environment improve our mental and physical health.
What once began as an interesting topic for plant people to chew on has taken root in serious science. There is proof working in an environment with plants provides multiple benefits. At last we can measure what I have experienced for years: Plants make good sense in many ways. We can link working in plant filled environments to cleaner air, better health and increased productivity. Let’s look at each of these benefits in more detail. Cleaner Air: When plants transpire water vapor from their leaves, they pull air down around their roots. This supplies their root microbes with oxygen. The root microbes also convert other substances in the air (such as toxic chemicals) into a source of food and energy.… Read More

Jim Mumford’s Tree Benefits You Never Knew

| March 20, 2014 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Environment, Gardening, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
My time spent growing up in San Diego in the 1960s and 70s was pretty close to perfect. There were always a gang of guys around for fun and adventure and the canyon behind my home provided the perfect giant trees for climbing, fort-building and tire-swinging. The canyon’s trees acted as sturdy protectors of my childhood and I never dreamed that someday those same trees might be endangered. Trees provide a multitude of benefits. Things you would never even think about. Did you know trees can help reduce violence? Neighborhoods and homes that lack trees have a higher rate of violence in and out of the home than their greener counterparts.… Read More

GreenScaped Buildings: Top Five Green Roofs and Living Walls Trends

| March 15, 2014 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Green Roofs, Living Walls
Take a look at our latest: the innovative living wall at LPL Financial including a flat screen TV display.
If I am still awake at 11:45 p.m., I am compelled to prop my eyes open long enough to catch late night talk show host David Letterman’s “Top Ten List.” He keeps things light while skating right on the edge of being controversial. Good stuff! While my list isn’t quite as edgy or as long, my Top Five Green Roofs and Living Walls Trends are a cool way to quickly catch up on what’s new in our industry. The benefits of having a green roof are tremendous, from long-term energy savings to being just plain beautiful. It’s a growing niche business and we are proud as parents when one gets completed and is up and growing on its own.… Read More

Hospitals “Greening Up” Healthcare

| March 6, 2014 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Green Roofs, Nature and Wellbeing
One of the patient rooms' at Sharp Memorial Hospital that looks out over the Good Earth Plants "green roof."
If you have visited a friend of family member in a hospital, chances are you brought them flowers or a plant. Why? Besides being a thoughtful gesture, studies have shown that plants play an important role in the healing process. Viewing settings with plants or nature for a few minutes can promote measurable restoration even in hospital patients who are acutely stressed. Patients heal more quickly, use less pain medication and complain less to staff. (Ulrich, 2002) I have read lots and lots of studies about plants and healing during my years in the plant industry. This is serious science and can be summed up in one sentence: Plants make us FEEL GOOD.… Read More

News from Good Earth Plant Company: March 2014 Newsletter

| March 4, 2014 | Categories: Living Walls, Newsletters, Plantscaping
Click here to read the March 2014 edition of the Good Earth Plant Company Leaflet newsletter. Highlights this issue include: Read about our latest activities in the President’s Letter Learn about our featured project, the new living wall at LPL Financial Find out about upcoming green living events Plus: Thanks A Bunch!, Lunch & Learn (CEU Program), and Good Earth Plants Is Hiring Get our newsletter first by signing up for our newsletter email list. Visit the home page of our website and scroll to the end of the page to provide us your email address.

New Living Wall at LPL Financial in San Diego

| March 3, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Case Studies, Living Walls
Take a look at our latest: the innovative living wall at LPL Financial including a flat screen TV display.
LPL Financial in downtown San Diego wanted something amazing for a high visibility area. The idea grew into a two-sided living wall of greenery surrounding a flat screen on one side. The 360-degree installation came with a few challenges, easily met by the GreenScaped team led by Project Manager Kerry Bauer. With plants located above and adjacent to the TV, multiple precautions were designed into the system to prevent any possibility of water reaching the electronic components. “The LPL Financial living wall represents a collaboration among Gensler Architects, Whiting Turner Construction and the team at GreenScaped Buildings to commit to a forward-thinking, sustainable project,” says GreenScaped Buildings owner Jim Mumford.… Read More

America’s Founding Farmers Planted a Nation

| February 27, 2014 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Mt. Vernon Gardens, George Washington
When Presidents Day rolls around, I always think about what it must have been like to have lived in the late 1700s. Seeing painted portraits of Washington and Jefferson with their long hair and ruffled shirts makes me believe they were way ahead of their time. We learned what we needed to know in sixth grade so that we could write a report on Jefferson. There was the bad rumor about Washington’s dental issues. But what else do we know about these brilliant men? This we DO know: our Founding Fathers were dedicated cultivators of the earth. They planted gardens, had animated discussions on the correct recipe for compost and thought about the future of the earth they would leave behind.… Read More

Westgate Hotel Renovation Includes Living Wall by GreenScaped Buildings

| February 20, 2014 | Categories: Case Studies, Living Walls, Media Coverage
Pure Fitness living wall at the Westgate Hotel by GreenScaped Buildings
GreenScaped Buildings was featured in the San Diego Business Journal this week in an article about the recently completed renovations at the Westgate Hotel in downtown San Diego. The freestanding living wall is positioned next to the rooftop pool, just outside the Pure Fitness facility at the hotel. It’s a showstopper. It provides an excellent example of introducing plants into an urban environment. It has already been used as the backdrop for a couture fashion show by Zandra Rhodes. Read the article here.

Look Who’s at the Expo: Good Earth Plants & Jim Mumford

| February 15, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
Jim Mumford at Landscape Expo
Jim Mumford and Good Earth Plants took the show on the road to Long Beach and the 2014 Landscape Architects Expo. Jim brought a living wall display and presented a seminar on living walls to landscape architects from Southern California and beyond. We hope to be working on some terrific projects with some of you soon.