Sustainable Living
It’s always strange to end one type of business, especially if you’ve been doing it for 25+ years. So here’s my official announcement that (with the exception of current and selected clients) we are going out of the Short Term Plant Rental business. I made this decision to open time and energy for expanding our GreenScaped Buildings branch to design and build more living walls and green roofs and to let our Good Earth Plants staff focus on new commercial and residential plantscaping accounts.
NOT an easy decision! But a necessary one, kind of like when you buy a new suit, you kind of have to donate an old one to make room in your closet.… Read More
Speak Kindly to the Plants
“Speak Kindly to the Plants… and the People!”
It’s so easy to get busy with work and home and family and all the million little sticky notes, lists and pieces of paper that are flying around. Those reminders to do something, buy something, call someone, or submit something by a deadline. Life is one BIG deadline.
The plant business has an added sense of urgency because we are working with a perishable item. Plants want to live, but they don’t like being ignored, left in a dark corner if they need sunlight or in hot sun when they want shade, not watered if they are thirsty, watered too much if they want to be dry.… Read More
Our Spring Newsletter
March 19, 2013
In This Issue
Upcoming Events
Employee Spotlight
Joke of the Month
Quote of the Month
Book a Lunch & Learn
Upcoming Speaking Engagements
Aquaponics at Good Earth Plants
Open House
Kevin’s Corner
Featured Project
Upcoming Events
Open House Plant Sale Reminder!!!
We have set the date for our Spring Open House and Plant Sale…
This year it will be held on Friday April 19, 2013 from 11:30 am to 5:30 pm.
We will have many new displays including a fully functioning display of our new Aquaponics System
We will also be selling LOTS of beautiful plants from Ficus to Ferns!… Read More
The Value of Appreciation
“People don’t work for wages only. They primarily seek an environment that will show them APPRECIATION, both publicly and privately. Wages come and go. As we travel through life, the most important memories we take with us are about how those who showed us Appreciation and Love.”—Rev. Ken Lanning, 1996.
I love this quote. Reverend Ken is a stand-up guy who visits our office on occasion. Once I remember I was eager to show him our green roof, but wary of him getting up to the roof itself. I needn’t have worried though because just as I looked to find a more sturdy lift, there was Reverend Ken climbing a ladder at age 83 to see what all the hoopla was about with my roof. … Read More
My TEDx Experience
Speaking with students is a prospect filled with questions: Will they be interested? Will I sound relevant? Is my topic “cool” enough? Is the word “cool” still “cool?” As I get older I find I look at youth and wonder if they go through the things I went through. Or have computers and social media changed us all so dramatically that it’s impossible for us to relate to each other?
I was fortunate to be asked to speak at the TEDx Youth Conference last November and my 17 year old son Theodore attended the presentation. I had ten precious minutes to get everyone to think about plants and why they are important to us. … Read More
Urban Heat Island Effect Bigger Than We Thought
Remember when the terms “Global Warming” and “Climate Change” were first mentioned? Now it’s commonplace. I just read how a research meteorologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography is suggesting that big cities in North America and Asia may generate enough heat to warm areas as far north as Canada and Siberia as much as 1.8 degrees.
In general, the heat gathered from the urban heat island effect rises and travels upwards and its energy may change high-altitude currents in the atmosphere that dictate prevailing weather. Meteorologists have known that cities are warmer than rural areas with cars, buildings, asphalt and roofs that absorb heat.… Read More
Rainwater Harvesting Tips
With the upcoming storm we though we would share some information with you on rainwater harvesting, courtesy of GreenScaped Buildings Project Manager Kevin Norton.
Rainwater is typically used to supplement potable water for landscape watering. By capturing large amounts of rainwater you can guarantee your potable water use during the driest months will be a minimum in comparison to your current water usage. Rainwater is best used for lawns, flowers and vegetable gardens. In drought stricken areas like Australia and San Diego, rainwater is used to supplement typical household water uses like laundry, then it is “re-purposed” as greywater to the landscape.… Read More
Selling Plantscaping to Upper Management
6 Keys to Getting the Green-light to Green-Up Your Office
As the Facilities or Operations Manager, your job is a delicate balance of keeping the company running smoothly and managing what seems like tighter and tighter budgets. Upper management expects you to ‘do more for less’ year after year and at some point, a priority needs to be made on the company workspace aesthetics and sustainability.
After all, a well-heeled reception area and conference room can project an image of a company that prospects want to do business with and employees want to work for. Interior and exterior plantscaping is not just the “living art” that beautifies a space, it can also create a work environment that improves air quality, reduces absenteeism and increases both productivity and employee morale.… Read More
4 Questions to Ask When Hiring a Plantscaper
What you don’t know can really cost you the green!
No matter where you stand on the great outsource-insource debate, it is abundantly clear that most businesses in San Diego, don’t want to add interior plant design and plant maintenance to their list of in-house services—much less add it to the job description of an employee who may turn your greenery into compost!
Some things are just better left to the professionals—especially those with a green thumb! But how do you know which professionals will give you the best green for your green?
Good Earth Plants services many clients in San Diego and southern California who have shared their stories of plants gone wild, or more accurately, splash and dash companies masquerading as plantscaping companies.… Read More
Business owner also known as eco entrepreneur – San Diego Daily Transcript
In business since 1977, Jim Mumford has had plenty of time to figure out what he wants his company to stand for. That said, the past 12 months have gone a long way in defining Good Earth Plant Co.
What began as a general flower shop set up by Mumford at the age of 20 is today one of the few places around San Diego that companies and individuals turn to when looking to turn their homes and offices into sustainable green spaces.
Finding practical ways to put plants in new and interesting places has changed the business model to where Mumford has added a second arm: Greenscaped Buildings.… Read More