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Trees Are a Teen’s BFF

| February 22, 2018 | Categories: Biophilia, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Are you and especially your kids getting enough vitamin N - as in Nature? Good Earth Plant Company San Diego
  It wasn’t all that long ago that my son and daughter, Ted and Allie, were typical high school students, in a typical 21st century high school. But you don’t have to be a parent or a high school student to feel the impact of the recent events in Parkland, Florida and worry about our teenagers. No, this blog isn’t going to turn into a discussion about events in the news. There are plenty of other places to talk about those issues. But what I do want to talk about is what seems like an epidemic of troubled, depressed teenagers. As a parent it upsets me to see so many kids hurting.… Read More

Working A Little Plantscaping Magic In Arizona

| February 21, 2018 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Environment, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Can you tell if these plants are real or replica?
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

Calling All Tree Huggers: Fans Rally Behind Pando

| February 15, 2018 | Categories: Biophilia, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing
In last week’s blog post, I wrote about the world’s largest living plants. Thanks for all the positive feedback. Several readers pointed out an important entry for out list we’d missed, and I’m glad they did. We get some of our best blog posts from your suggestions! It is worth a blog post all to itself: the Utah aspen grove now believed to be the world’s largest living organism. It’s so big and utterly unique, it’s been given a name: Pando. Pando is Latin for “I Spread.” Botanist Burton Barnes from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor gave this aspen grove its name.… Read More

Jim Mumford Featured in San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles Magazine

| February 8, 2018 | Categories: Awards & Achievements, Living Walls, Media Coverage, Moss Walls
Our Eco-Warrior in Chief, Founder and President of Good Earth Plant Company Jim Mumford, is featured in the February 2018 issue of the award-winning San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles Magazine. Jim participated in the “Dialogue” feature, a question and answer interview about his background as a plantscaper, Certified Landscape Professional and Green Roof Professional; his San Diego based business and its history; his living wall, green roof, and moss wall projects; and his advocacy for the WELL Building Standard and implementing the principles of biophilia and biophilic design in our every day lives where we live, work, and play. You can read the interview below.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Thinks Big: World’s Largest Plants

| February 7, 2018 | Categories: Environment, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
The Hyperion tree is the tallest tree in the world.
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

Amazon Goes Big With Biophilia: The Spheres Are Open

| February 1, 2018 | Categories: Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Environment, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Amazon sphere
Seven years, 600 people, 40,000 plants from 300 species, and one really big Ficus tree later, the Amazon Spheres opened this week in the Denny Triangle neighborhood of Seattle. Public officials made speeches, people got their thank yous, and ribbons were cut. Because it’s Amazon, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos did the final honors with the help of Alexa, by saying “Alexa, open The Spheres.” For an Eco-Warrior and biophilic design advocate like me, something like this gets me as geeked out excited as the most hardcore costume wearing fans at Comic-Con. We wrote about the project under construction in 2016.… Read More

Glow In The Dark Trees Could Replace Streetlights

| January 25, 2018 | Categories: Environment, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Could trees one day glow like jellyfish? MIT researchers believe it's possible.
Human civilization took a giant leap when we learned how to make and control fire. Along with fire came the glow of firelight, and the history of man-made lighting is nearly as important to us as fire. Historians believe the first ancient lamp was probably made out of a hollowed-out rock, shell, or some other object that could hold a miniature fire safely about 70,000 years ago. Fast forward to 2018. Now scientists are trying to learn how to manipulate light the same way nature does to create new light sources. One of those methods involves using plants. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are working on ways to make plants glow by using different methods of bioluminescence (“the production and emission of light by a living organism”).… Read More

Porn Vs. Plants: Guess Which One Is Winning?

| January 11, 2018 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing
Virtual reality needs to get real... as in exploring nature.
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

| January 4, 2018 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Biophilic Design, Indoor Plants, Sustainable Living
The Pantone Color of the Year for 2018 is Ultra Violet. It's present in many natural examples, including these hyacinths. Photo: Creative Commons License
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

| December 21, 2017 | Categories: Agriculture and Farming, Architecture and Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants
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