Living Walls

A basic living wall is a plant such as ivy vines growing up the side of a building. A more complex living wall uses an engineered trellis system with plants rooted into a growing medium within the structure, but separate from the building. This system allows for more creative options. The most complex living walls systems include four elements: growing media, structural support, integrated irrigation and a drainage system.

Living walls flourish inside with the right lighting, or outside in almost any climate. They can be planted randomly or display intricate patterns. Living walls can use a recirculating irrigation system, drip irrigation with a drain, or be watered by hand.

Good Earth Plant Company conducted long-term trials of 20 different systems. We confidently recommend the best system for your location and individual needs. We know which plants work best in each setting, including how to choose and install the right irrigation system; how to make adjustments for lighting; and ongoing maintenance needs.

Our clients include homeowners, business owners, facilities managers, architects, landscape architects, interior designers, developers and general contractors. We install living walls in offices, lobbies, homes, schools, shopping malls, retail stores, restaurants, hotels, car dealers, and nonprofit settings.

Living walls conserve energy by insulating the building envelope. This reduces the need for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. They create biodiversity, conservation opportunities, and can absorb and filter stormwater, which reduces local water body pollution and helps prevent the overwhelming of municipal stormwater infrastructure.

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

Green Wall Business

We’ve seen a major shift in inquiries for green roofs projects to opportunities for living walls. Thankfully  we’ve been trialing and demonstrating living walls here at the office for the past four years. The lessons, tricks and idiosyncrasies we have learned are invaluable and have allowed us to not experiment at a client’s location. As such, I am not willing to install a new system that we have not sufficiently worked with to understand all of the possible challenges associated with that particular system.  I’m of the opinion that nearly anyone can install a beautiful green wall, only a select few of us can keep it looking that way for years.… Read More

Foodies Alert: Seasons 52 to Open in Westfield Century City, Examiner.com

Attention foodies, Seasons 52 is opening its second SoCal fresh grill and wine bar on November 12, 2012, at Westfield Century City, 10250 Santa Monica Boulevard at the entrance of Westfield Century City just minutes from Beverly Hills, FOX Studios and Hollywood’s top talent agencies. The patio’s green, sustainable elements include three separate installations created by San Diego-based Jim Mumford and his team of “eco warriors” from GreenScaped Buildings. The Living Wall, which can be seen from Santa Monica Boulevard, is 112 feet of aesthetically pleasing biodiversity composed of 36 wall modules of dense, shade tolerant plants, ground covers, aromatic herbs, ferns and grasses.… Read More

GreenScaped Buildings Installs Living Wall at Fashion Valley – Mission Times Courier

Shoppers enjoying their next trip to the popular Fashion Valley in San Diego will be greeted by a beautiful and unexpected sight, thanks to the installation of a cutting-edge “living wall” at the property this week. The first of its kind at a San Diego County retail property, living walls or green walls are structures that allow plant materials to grow on a building, but have the added benefit of allowing them to grow on vertical spaces indoors or outdoors. Both types of walls grow in “found space,” using far less space than typical gardens. Living walls can be planted with a wide variety of plants.… Read More

Fashion Valley’s Living Wall – Ranch and Coast Magazine

Shoppers enjoying their next trip to the popular Fashion Valley will be greeted by a beautiful and unexpected sight, thanks to the installation of a cutting-edge “living wall” at the property. Living walls or green walls are structures that allow plant materials to grow on a building, but have the added benefit of allowing them to grow on vertical spaces indoors or outdoors. Both types of walls grow in “found space,” using far less space than typical gardens. Living walls can be planted with a wide variety of plants. The Fashion Valley wall was installed by Jim Mumford, GRP, CLP of GreenScaped Buildings of San Diego.… Read More

The Walls are Alive and Growing at the Mall

Good Earth Plants and Greenscaped Buildings Will Complete the Final Phases of the New Colorful, Living Wall at Fashion Valley Mall Next Week – By Jim Mumford, President and Green Guru, Good Earth Plants and Greenscaped Buildings Starting August 6, we will be building the new Green Wall at San Diego’s Fashion Valley Mall next to the new True Foods Restaurant and across the street from The Cheesecake Factory. I am thrilled to not only give the city of San Diego and the shoppers of Fashion Valley Mall something beautiful to look at, but also give all residents cleaner air to breath!… Read More

Good Earth Plants and Greenscaped Buildings Fashion Valley Mall Project Gets Noticed

We’re in the News! San Diego Business Journal details the project as part of the shopping center’s remodeling efforts Feel free to read the post here: ‘Living Wall’ Is Part of Fashion Valley Makeover Plans Or for your reading convenience; here is the full post featured on the San Diego Business Journal’s Website: ‘Living Wall’ Is Part of Fashion Valley Makeover Plans By LOU HIRSH Wednesday, June 20, 2012 Simon Property Group Inc. is installing a 46-foot-long, 16-foot-tall “living wall” feature at its Fashion Valley mall, to be covered with 4,000 ornamental plants, ferns, grasses and eight different types of ground coverings.… Read More

Walls you can eat – CNN Money

SAN DIEGO (CNNMoney.com) — Mario Batali decided last year to install a garden between his adjoining West Hollywood restaurants, Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza. But a plain old backyard patch wouldn’t do. Batali wanted something more visually striking, something more … vertical? So he turned to Jim Mumford, the owner of Good Earth Plant and Flower Company in San Diego. Mumford, 52, had built a reputation as a nontraditional gardener. In March 2007, he embarked on a “giant experiment,” replacing the 1,800-square-foot roof of a commercial building he owned with a planter’s paradise: three inches of specialized, lightweight soil over a padded waterproofing and drainage system.… Read More

A Simple, Practical Solution – Voice of San Diego

Cities are facing climate change. Urban areas are warming up. Storm water overflow is contaminating beaches, bays, rivers and lakes. Development continues to encroach on the natural environment. Green roofs (or “eco-roofs”) provide a simple, practical solution to all these problems. Green roofs are an engineered, lightweight roofing system that supports plants. Green roof technology has been popular in Europe for 30 years, and is used in some North American cities including New York, Chicago, Toronto, and Portland, Oregon. But green roof technology is not well known in most of the United States and hardly at all in San Diego. Read more: http://voiceofsandiego.org/2007/12/11/a-simple-practical-solution/