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.

New Living Wall at LPL Financial in San Diego

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

Westgate Hotel Renovation Includes Living Wall by GreenScaped Buildings

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

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.

Living Walls: More Romantic Than Cards and Candy

On February 13 and 14,  you can find me not in the aisle of a Hallmark store or candy shop, but at the Landscape Architects Expo in Long Beach. Good Earth Plant Company participated with a display in 2013, teaming with our living wall contract nursery, Green Meadow Growers. It was a great show! Many new leads and many new conversations about what we do best: designing, installing and maintaining living walls and green roofs. This year we upped the ante somewhat by agreeing to speak in a breakout session. My topic will be simple: “Designing Living Walls.” I’ll be speaking at 1:30 p.m.… Read More

Water Water Nowhere: California’s Drought Crisis of 2014

California’s water situation has officially become a CRISIS. Governor Jerry Brown has declared a State of Emergency for California and we are scheduled to have the driest year (2014) on record. Reservoirs are at very low levels and the snowpack is 20 percent of the normal average for January. That’s the bad news. And there isn’t much good news. For Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings, increasing water costs and less rainfall means a quantum shift in our thinking. Gone are the days of the lush green lawn. We are designing, installing and maintaining drought-tolerant plantscapes that rely on minimal irrigation.… Read More

Recharging and Growing in Florida to Start 2014 Fresh

January means it’s time to recharge. Holiday decorations need to be put away, tax forms start arriving and invariably a resolution or two gets made and then broken. With all the stuff going on that a new year brings, I will count on recharging during a trip down to Florida for the TPIE event in Ft. Lauderdale. Sun, fun and endless displays of orchids and ginger plants greet me at TPIE, which stands for the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition. It is a wonderful gathering of tropical (and other) plant professionals from 33 countries and 44 states, all geared up to show off the latest things growing and the things that help make them grow.… Read More

GreenScaped Buildings Waves Hello to New Living Wall at Oceanside Hotel

SpringHill Suites Living Wall
When a friend moves to the beach, everyone wants to visit. Oceanside’s newest resident is no exception. SpringHill Suites by Marriott is scheduled to open in February and a long list of visitors is already scheduled for a stay. Our GreenScaped Buildings team plays a big role by making sure beautiful, living plants are part of the picture. Kerry Bauer led our talented team of professionals who designed and installed a living wall on the west side of the property facing south, adjacent to the hotel entrance. The living wall is 16 by 16 feet, uses the G-02 system and was grown in for five months prior to installation from cuttings.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Wishes You A Green And Happy New Year

Time to break out the bubbly and party hats. 2013 is in the rear view mirror and 2014 is in front of us. What a year it has been! From Boston to Seattle, the Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings teams have had their hands full with amazing projects and renewed enthusiasm. We wrapped up 2013 with a big, green bow and a nod of satisfaction. For the Good Earth Plants team, it was our time to shine with plantscaping the Old Police Headquarters and adding new life to our existing office building clients.  Debbie Hopkins and her talented crew brought new clients into the mix with cutting edge designs for lobbies and offices, including Illumina who added a new building to its office park, Encore in Mission Valley, and Co-Merge in downtown.… Read More

Jim Mumford’s 2013 Green Christmas Wishes from Good Earth Plants

While most people are gathering around the Christmas tree and wrapping their final gifts, the Good Earth Plants team is busy putting a bow on the 2013 Christmas season. We still have a solid week’s worth of work to do delivering last-minute orders, checking on big décor projects and making sure the tree at Horton Plaza is holding up after the mix of weather we have had. Whew! While it’s not yet over for us, I wanted to stop for a moment and send along my thoughts on the season to all of you who kindly read my musings throughout the year.… Read More

Living Wall Maintenance: It Takes a Professional

I love taking my daughter Allie shopping at the Fashion Valley Mall. The stores, the displays, the crowds. I will even tolerate a line to find a parking spot so that we can wander the mall. So imagine my joy when Greenscaped Buildings got a call to design, build and maintain a living wall just outside the new True Foods restaurant. Healthy food and a living wall, two of my favorite things! It was one of our largest living wall projects and we were so proud when it was completed. We took pictures and shook hands and for the next year, Good Earth Plant Company maintained it to keep it green and growing.… Read More