Architecture and Design

Many architecture and design clients look for biophilic design elements in their project living walls, moss walls, or large-scale plant design elements.

Good Earth Plant Company partners with leading architects and interior design professionals to make design and installation a seamless experience.

We have worked with design professionals on commercial and luxury residential projects that set the highest standards and exceed client expectations.

 

Remember This One Good Thing About Office Plants

When exactly did “multitasking” become a thing? It might have been when we all first got computers on our desks. It happened for sure when we all started having those little computers called smartphones in our hands all the time. The word actually existed in the 1960s as an engineering term, but computer processing made it popular in the 1990s. People brag about how great they are at multitasking, especially at work. After 20 years the laugh is on us, because we’ve learned thanks to scientific studies there is really no such thing as multitasking. What we are all doing is task switching.… Read More

The Future of Living Walls in Los Angeles

One of the things we love about working with living walls is finding something new to incorporate into our client projects. We’ve been big fans of preserved moss walls, and found a way to combine it with traditional living walls for the architecture firm Gensler’s Los Angeles location. Gensler’s Los Angeles office is the first vertical urban creative campus in the downtown area at 500 South Figueroa Street. The campus is comprised of Gensler’s original three-level atrium building, which it outgrew a long time ago,  connected via a custom-designed bridge to the City National Bank tower next door where it is leasing several more floors of office space to accommodate its 600 employees.… Read More

Make America Great Again – With Plants

Like a lot of you, I’ve been watching President Trump on the news. It is hard to avoid. He’s having a really rough time. I don’t care what your politics are, love him or hate him. We all want to see the President of the United States be successful on behalf of our country. The more I’ve watched, the more I’ve noticed something about the current Oval Office. Looking at it, there are no plants. None! When you’re in the Plantscaping business, this sets off a whole lot of alarm bells. We’ve written so many times about the benefits of plants in the workplace.… Read More

Reduce Workplace Distractions with Plants

People working in an office with lots of plants.
Companies were quick to jump on board the open office design trend when it first showed up in the 1990s. Busting down the doors created community and encouraged creativity. People also needed less workspace thanks to technology. No one needed a huge computer workstation anymore when a laptop or even a tablet or phone would do. By opening up office space and shrinking the average workstation, companies could also save a lot of money on their office leases. The result: the International Facilities Managers Association says 70 percent of all workplaces today have some kind of open office design. In the 20 plus years since the walls came down, workplace efficiency experts have learned a lot – mainly that the pendulum swung a little too far and some corrections are needed.… Read More

Go Green Or Your Employees Might Go Home

The job market has been opening up. It’s great news for people who want to find a quality job. But it’s not such good news for employers trying to retain their most talented employees. Employers should pay attention to the findings in this year’s annual “State of the American Workplace” survey from the Gallup Organization. It gives them a game plan for developing the kind working environment talented people are looking for. A record 47 percent of the workforce say now is a good time to find a quality job. More than half of employees (51 percent) are searching for new jobs or watching for openings.… Read More

Hotel Del Coronado Gets Its Own Living Wall

Did anyone watch the TV game show “Wheel of Fortune” during its “San Diego Week?” The show backdrop featured classic symbols of San Diego. The most prominant was the unmistakable red turret roof of the Hotel Del Coronado. The beautiful Hotel del Coronado is a little more beautiful today thanks to its new living wall, installed in late January by Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings. This project has been a year in the making as it made its way through a lengthy approval process by the City of Coronado. The City and several organizations must maintain the historic preservation of the landmark and ensure any renovations or construction don’t harm the structure.… Read More

Good Earth Plant Company Wishes You Happy 4715

Gung Hay Fat Choi 4715 (Happy Lunar New Year) from Good Earth Plant Company!
We never turn down the opportunity to celebrate a holiday at Good Earth Plant Company. So we are happy to wish you a Happy New Year, because Saturday, January 28, is the start of the Chinese or Lunar New Year 4715. It is celebrated by one-sixth of the world’s population. The Lunar New Year is the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese lunar calendar measures months the way most cultures did from the beginning of humanity, by following the cycles of the moon. The lunar calendar begins each month when the night sky is darkest, on the new moon.… Read More

Good Earth Plant Company’s Top Ten Workplace Design Trends to Watch for 2017

With just a few days left of 2016, Good Earth Plants has its attention focused on what’s to come for 2017. Here are our top ten predictions on workplace design trends for the next 12 months. Moss Wall Art: Preserved moss walls took our industry by storm in 2016, and there is no sign of it letting up. Look for even more creativity and innovation in these projects. We are incorporating new and different types of mosses and integrating additional materials including elements like driftwood, pods, shells and glass. There is no limit to the possibilities. We are even exploring living moss walls into very limited projects.… Read More

San Diego Isn’t As Green As It Should Be

When the newest Green Buildings Adoption Index report came out earlier this week ranking the top 30 metropolitan areas in the United States, I checked it to see where San Diego stood. It would be in the Top Ten, right? No – and we didn’t even make the Top 20. In the report by the commercial real estate firm CBRE Group Inc. and Maastricht University in the Netherlands with the U.S. Green Building Council assessing the percentage of green, environmentally friendly and LEED certified buildings in the region, San Diego ranked 21st. This is pretty disappointing to me. San Francisco came in first, with 73.7 percent of its office space classified as “green.”… Read More

Help Good Earth Plant Company Support “A Growing Passion”

Jim Mumford and Nan Sterman, KPBS TV
One of my favorite ways to spend time is to pass along my love of plants and nature and educate people about their many benefits. But even though I try, I can’t do it all myself. I have a business to run after all! There are plenty of other people who feel the same way. One of them is my fellow San Diegan Nan Sterman. Nan is no “Jane come lately” to the sustainability movement. Since the 1970s (as long as me!) Nan has used her skills as a garden designer, author, botanist, and award-winning garden communicator to help transform planted landscapes from overly thirsty and resource intensive to climate appropriate and sustainable.… Read More