Good Earth Plant Company

Joan Rivers, My Tree, and Remembering A Class Act

| September 8, 2014 | Categories: Blog, Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants
Joan Rivers publicity photo, 1980s.
The world said goodbye to Joan Rivers at a memorial service in New York this weekend.  Famous names like Howard Stern Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O’Donnell, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Diane Sawyer, Donald J. Trump and Barbara Walters remembered Joan and paid their respects. I would like to remember Joan Rivers and pay my respects, too. Very early in my career, about 1980, I got a call from concert promoter Avalon Attractions. Joan Rivers was coming to San Diego to perform a couple of shows at Golden Hall downtown. Avalon staff wanted to rent some larger trees as stage decor, along with purchasing small ferns and flowering mum plants.… Read More

Go Green With Good Earth Plant Company for National Indoor Plants Week

| September 4, 2014 | Categories: Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Summer is over and the big holidays of the year – Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s – aren’t too far away. But before this, one of our favorite holidays at Good Earth Plant Company is coming up next week. So get ready to celebrate, it’s National Indoor Plant Week September 15 through 19. What, you haven’t made your party plans yet? No problem. Good Earth Plants can get you started as we celebrate by spreading awareness on the benefits of having indoor plants in your work and home environment. Anyone can participate in this holiday. As professionals, we give you the information you need.  … Read More

Price Drops Mean Green Roofs for All

| August 27, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Green Roofs
At Good Earth Plant Company and GreenScaped Buildings, we believe green roofs are beautiful, beneficial, and just overall wonderful.  But we know the cost is sometimes more than our clients had originally budgeted when they contact us.  We love providing our clients with the green roof of their dreams no matter the budget, and soon it will be a little easier to do so. As green roofs and other forms of Building-Integrated Vegetation become more popular, prices start to drop. For example, according to an article in Energy Management Today, by 2017 one of the major components of green roofs provided to us by our supplier Columbia Green Technologies will drop by 28 percent.… Read More

Going Gray(Water) The Safe Way

| August 21, 2014 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living, Water and Water Conservation
living wall
In a previous blog post, Good Earth Plant Company shared some of our best tips on how to conserve water while keeping your plants healthy. Landscape irrigation has the highest use of water in the average household. Watering your plants efficiently is a great start to reach the goal to reduce our water use by 20% by 2020. However, this alone is not enough. Good Earth Plants can help you take the next step to effectively conserve water by using gray water systems. Gray water systems are used to recycle water already used once in your shower and laundry water for the purpose of watering your garden.… Read More

Flowers and World Peace: Why Not?

| August 15, 2014 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants
“Sweet flowers alone can say what passion fears revealing.” – Thomas Hood Watch any news and you’ll see constant discussion on war in the Middle East. Perhaps things would be different if plants were involved. At Good Earth Plants, we think it couldn’t hurt. The olive branch is the symbol of peace. Wouldn’t it be a better world if olive branches were exchanged instead of bullets? Throughout history, people have used the gift of plants and flowers to communicate human emotions. Many of us know the red rose stands for love, and the daisy for happiness. Good Earth Plant Company wants to widen your plant vocabulary so the next time you give flowers or a plant as gift, it will hold a deeper meaning.… Read More

Mondays Not the Issue: Work May Make You Sick

| August 7, 2014 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
What if Peter's "case of the Mondays" was caused by working in a sick building? Photo credit: "Office Space," 20th Century Fox, 1999
Plenty of people joke that going to work makes them sick. But if you’re in a building with poor air quality, it’s not a joke. Work really IS making you sick. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that up to 30 percent of new and remodeled buildings have indoor air quality problems. There are plenty of reasons: poor building design, the activities going on inside like manufacturing processes, for example, poorly maintained heating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, harsh cleaners or pesticides, or indoor airborne contaminants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are carbon-containing chemicals that can vaporize into the air inside a building, where occupants (like you) breathe them in.… Read More

Tips for Saving Water Without Killing Your Plants

| July 31, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Sustainable Living, Water and Water Conservation
The living wall at SDG&E's Energy Innovation Center is filled with drought tolerant plants.
“Oh man, do we need it!” This is the sentence muttered by every San Diegan when discussing the topic of rain. This is California’s third consecutive dry year, and things are not looking bright for the future. We wrote about this issue in January, and here we are again because the conditions have yet to improve. In 2010, California put in a place a goal to have residents cut their water use by 20 percent by 2020. Many of you may be wondering, ‘How will I do this and not let all my plants die in the process?’ Good Earth Plant Company has four water saving tips for plant lovers.… Read More

Planting Seeds at ASLA San Diego Living Architecture Mixer

| July 24, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
Plenty of seeds were planted at the ASLA San Diego Living Architecture Mixer at Good Earth Plants.
It’s hard to say who enjoyed our recent Good Earth Plants and GreenScaped Buildings Living Architecture Mixer for ASLA San Diego: the hosts, or the attendees. It’s fair to say everyone had a great time. We welcomed 80 attendees including Landscape Architects, Architects, and Interior Designers. Food was eaten, drinks were had, and knowledge was shared. Many professionals viewed, touched, and experienced our dozens of Living Wall and Green Roof demos in our Good Earth Plant Company Living Lab. Even our bar had a green roof. Our rooftop irrigation system turned while our attendees were viewing our original green roof on the GEP HQ building.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Leaflet July 2014 Newsletter Includes Graphic Humor

| July 17, 2014 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company, Newsletters
Good Earth Plant Company Leaflet Newsletter
Click here to read the July 2014 edition of the Good Earth Plant Company Leaflet newsletter. Highlights this issue include: Read about our latest activities in the President’s Letter Check out our creative curved living wall project built at a client’s home as a birthday present for his wife Your office could look like this office, and you wouldn’t dread Mondays so much Horticultural Humor goes graphic this month Get our newsletter delivered right to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter email list. Visit the home page of our website and scroll to the end of the page to provide us your email address.

Challenge Plus Creativity = One Beautiful Birthday Present, A Living Wall

| July 15, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Living Walls
Sometimes square pegs fit in round holes: a living wall on a curved surface.
Nobody loves a challenge more than GreenScaped Buildings. A potential client who had seen the stunning installation at Spring Hill Suites in Oceanside tracked us down at the end of May, and called us in to look at his proposed project. He wanted to surprise his wife for her birthday and give her a 112 square foot living wall at the front entry of their house. How’s that for a unique and spectacular present? We loved the idea. He was set on the style of the wall being succulents in a tight pattern. Here is what the original wall looks like as a reminder: This raised two huge challenges: 1) How to overcome his three week lead time: First, the manufacturer’s lead time to get us the wall materials is four weeks.… Read More