Indoor Plants
When chosen wisely and treated well, indoor plants can survive and thrive in nearly any office or home environment. It is well worth the investment of your time and attention to be sure your plants are getting the right care.
But whether it’s due to ignorance, neglect, or flat out abuse, indoor plants face many enemies to their good health. The team of professional horticulture technicians who care for plants every day at Good Earth Plant Company know how to avoid the most common problems, and troubleshoot others when they pop up.
Through our 40 years of experience, we’ve put together 11 enemies of your indoor plants for you to learn about and avoid.… Read More
Working A Little Plantscaping Magic In Arizona
Sometimes the best solution for one of our clients is a blend of multiple approaches in a customized design.
Good Earth Plant Company recently worked with a San Diego dispensary client with locations in multiple states. For its Tempe, Arizona location, “Tend Tempe,” we needed to find ways to incorporate plants into their facility where the conditions weren’t optimal. Working with Basille Studios on the details, we decided a blend of real and replica (or “faux”) plants would work best.
An “illusion” was created with our materials. Where there was enough light and/or enough access to provide ongoing maintenance, we used living plants.… Read More
Good Earth Plants Thinks Big: World’s Largest Plants
Regular readers of my blog know how much I love trees. The simple act of planting a tree is one of the most valuable things you can do for the planet. One of my first blog posts ever (in 2013) was about treehouses. In 2015, it upset me to learn Caltrans was cutting down mature trees to make way for freeway expansion.
So I was happy to hear about plans to protect the health of Balboa Park’s huge Moreton Bay Fig tree next to the Natural History Museum. This tree and I go back a long way. One of my only real jobs before opening Good Earth Plants was working for the Natural History Museum, where I took admission tickets.… Read More
Porn Vs. Plants: Guess Which One Is Winning?
The beginning of a new year gives everyone a fresh start. Scientific studies show people really do feel extra motivation to set and accomplish goals thanks to the power of believing in the opportunity for a new beginning and another chance to get things right.
I get excited at the beginning of the year, because it means one of my favorite annual conferences and trade shows is just days away: the Tropical Plants International Expo (TPIE) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which takes place every year in the middle of January. Most people at the show love getting away from their cold weather at home.… Read More
Color Good Earth Plants Happy About the 2018 Color of the Year Choice
The Pantone Company decided to go big or go home with its 2018 “Color of the Year” choice. It’s now headline news when this American company best known for creating a universal color matching system names one color every December it thinks will be the hottest color trend for the year ahead.
Last year’s choice was “Greenery.” Pantone describes it as a “cheery green shade” that evokes the first days of spring when nature and plants revive, restore, and renew. It’s the Good Earth Plant Company color of the year every year, so you know we loved it.
This year’s choice could not be more different.… Read More
Succulents Give You A Fighting Chance Against Wildfires
Watching wildfires burn across Southern California including close to home in the Bonsall and Fallbrook areas of San Diego County is sobering, especially for a wildfire survivor like me. Most of you know my own story: my home in the Muth Valley area of Lakeside in San Diego County burned to the ground in the Cedar Fire of 2003. I wrote about the experience in a journal shortly after it happened, and posted it to this blog page several years ago. You can read it here.
The largest of the fires, the Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, continues to burn and it’s likely to end up as the largest wildfire in California state history.… Read More
Adding Plants Isn’t Rocket Science, But It Should Be
Have you ever felt that post-lunchtime slump at work, around 2 p.m.? You probably blamed it on the California burrito you ate, or a morning coffee crash. The more likely culprit turns out to be carbon dioxide.
A research study conducted earlier this year by Harvard, Syracuse, and SUNY Upstate Medical Universities studied office environments and determined the level of carbon dioxide in the average office environment reaches its daily peak around 2 p.m. The CO2 level of 1,000 parts per million is 2.5 times the level of carbon dioxide in the outside atmosphere. Read more about this study in the Harvard Business Journal.… Read More
Urban Corps San Diego Participates in Our ‘Plants With Purpose’ Program
Urban Corps San Diego is the latest participant in Good Earth Plant Company’s “Plants With Purpose” donation program for nonprofit organizations. We are able to donate plants being recycled from our plantscaping clients to nonprofits which can put the power of nature to good use.
Brennan Hubbell from Urban Corps Recycling Education and Outreach San Diego paid us a visit to pick up plants for use in its programs.
We were happy to contribute to our old friends at the Urban Corps. Good Earth Plant Company installed the organization‘s rooftop urban farm several years ago, and donated plants and pots on another occasion to help stock its Recycling ECO Center’s Rooftop Resource Garden, a valuable recent addition to its facility.… Read More
Bringing the Green Road Show To You
In the annual Chapman University Study on American Fears, the fear at the top never changes. In 2016, when people were asked about 79 different fears, giving a presentation is number one among personal fears, followed by heights and crawly things. Lowest: clowns.
As my family, friends, and colleagues know all too well, this isn’t a problem for me now. It wasn’t always this way, but now I love to talk to groups of people. One of my favorite things is to give presentations on integrating nature into our every day lives. It’s a passion, not a phobia! (I don’t have a problem with heights creepy crawly bugs or snakes either).… Read More
In Business, Green is Good
When did you last spend time outdoors? You might think everyone is outside enjoying summer weather and school vacations. In San Diego, there’s hardly a day all year when you can’t be outside in short sleeves (or less).
Buried in a report by the Environmental Protection Agency from 1989 is this shocking statistic: people in industrialized countries include the U.S. and Europe spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors. Specifically, people spend 93 percent of their time indoors, with anther five percent in transit in a car or public transportation, and just two percent outside.
I’d like to think this number is lower in San Diego, but even if it’s 80 percent, it’s still a sobering reality.… Read More









