Jim Mumford

Vertical Forests: Green New Heights

| May 21, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Living Walls
The "Bosco Verticale" or vertical forest built by Boeri Studio in Milan, Italy.
  Italian architect Stefano Boeri came up with the concept of “Bosco Verticale,” or Vertical Forest, as a way to combine high-density residential development with tree planting in urban settings. Now his first project in Milan, Italy is nearly finished. It’s a twin tower apartment complex. I’ve been tracking this project for a couple of years now. What a project! Over 700 tress, 11,000 groundcover plants and 5,000 shrubs. I sure would like to get the maintenance contact on this baby. Can you image how beautiful the view is while framed by plants? Take a look for yourself here and I’m sure you will agree.… Read More

News from Good Earth Plant Company: May 2014 Newsletter

| May 21, 2014 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Newsletters, Plantscaping
SpringHill Suites Living Wall
Click here to read the May 2014 edition of the Good Earth Plant Company Leaflet newsletter. Highlights this issue include: Read about our latest activities in the President’s Letter Learn about our featured projects, the new living walls at the Marriott SpringHill Suites in Oceanside and at Qualcomm See photos from our Spring Open House Who couldn’t use a little Horticultural Humor? 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.        

Changed by Fire: Thriving After Disaster

| May 16, 2014 | Categories: Awards & Achievements, Good Earth Plant Company, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Scenes from the Cocos fire. Courtesy NBC 7
Introduction: This blog post is not the normal bits of advice or inspiration about green building, plantscaping, or living walls. After the events of this week in San Diego and an unusually early start to what appears to be a long, hot summer and wildfire season to come, I couldn’t help but think about my own experiences surviving – and even thriving – after a wildfire. I wrote a lengthy journal entry about my experiences with a wildfire in 2003, when my own home was burned to the ground in the Cedar Fire. While many things were destroyed – including my marriage – new life literally did grow from the ashes, taking me in a direction I never could have imagined.… Read More

Cleaning the Polluted Air: Easy as Planting a Tree

| May 15, 2014 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Sustainable Living
If we don't address our pollution issues and clean our air NOW, we could all end up living under a dome.
Life provides too many distractions: phone calls, emails and everything on Facebook. When time allows my thoughts to wander beyond my little world, many times it rests upon how we can improve the environment or at the least, reduces our negative impact on it. Almost always, plants find their way into my ideas for helping the situation in one way or another. The recent wildfires in San Diego County brought clouds of black smoke, ash and the loss of primarily native vegetation in undeveloped areas. Our first responders are working hard to contain the danger, but not without the loss of trees and habitat.… Read More

Six Reasons to Plant a Tree: Good Earth Plants Guide to Arbor Day

| May 8, 2014 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips
In all our zeal to prepare for our Open House and Plant Sale last week, we missed a special event on Friday, April 25: Arbor Day. It’s ironic that during our busy week of planning and preparing for our semi-annual Open House, we lost track of a day set aside to honor such living treasures. After scolding myself for “not seeing the forest for the trees,” I spent a few minutes reading about Arbor Day and what it is really all about. First celebrated in Spain in 1805, Arbor Day is most often celebrated by the planting of trees, always a good idea.… Read More

Greenroofs.com video: Seasons 52 Edible Wall & Living Wall

| May 6, 2014 | Categories: Case Studies, Green Roofs, Living Walls, Media Coverage
GreenScaped Buildings is thrilled to be part of the featured project of the week on the leading industry website Greenroofs.com The GreenScaped Buildings team installed both an edible wall and a living wall on the patio at the Seasons 52 restaurant in Santa Monica, California. We love all our projects, but we admit this one exceeded our expectations thanks to the passion of our client at Seasons 52, especially Executive Chef Clifford Pleau who originally envisioned the living chef’s garden inside the restaurant, a first. There are 125 types of culinary herbs on the wall, and now all the chefs and the bartenders make use of those herbs in food and beverages.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Thanks You For Visiting Our Open House

| May 1, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants
We love having our friends, family, clients and colleagues visit Good Earth Plant Company for our Open House and Plant Sale - or anytime at all!
  “April Showers bring May Flowers….” While we certainly needed the rain, my fingers were crossed for sunny skies Friday, April 24 as we hosted our spring Good Earth Plants Open House and Plant Sale. While it wasn’t exactly sunny, we did manage to hold off the rain until later that night and have a tremendous Open House that day. And the wind? What’s a little breeze! Our semi-annual event brought record-breaking numbers of new guests to view eight different types of green roofs and two dozen living wall displays that interested a number of architects, landscape architects and interior designers, not to mention a few potential customers.… Read More

Don’t Miss The Plant Bargains at the Good Earth Plants Open House

| April 24, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
We are knee-deep in palms, ficus and orchids here at Good Earth Plants and busy getting ready to welcome you to our Spring Plant Sale and Open House on Friday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Have you sent your RSVP yet? What are you waiting for! The greenhouse and demonstration garden have never looked better with living wall and green roof displays and “Plant Portrait” samples fully planted and lush with spring growth. Some of the smaller living walls will be on sale and you can take one home with you. We also have a number of assorted items for sale from indoor green plants and pottery  to 10-foot Queen palm trees.… Read More

Welcome Spring at the Good Earth Plants Open House and Plant Sale

| April 17, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
The Good Earth Plant Company green roof seven years ago and today.
The buds are bursting, hotels are filled and days are longer. It must be spring in San Diego.  It’s also time for the Good Earth Plants crew to sweep up and dust off our warehouse and demo garden so we can show off some exciting new projects at our Open House and Plant Sale on Friday, April 25 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Opening the doors to guests is a great way for us to see our operation with fresh eyes. Our talented staff coaxes new growth to show off our living wall displays and our now seven-year-old green roof, one of the first in San Diego.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Salutes San Diego’s “Art Alive 2014”

| April 10, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements
Jim Mumford's "Art Alive" floral design interprets the painting "Sunday Afternoon" by Hughie Lee-Smith.
Spring in San Diego is an amazing time of year: perfect weather, plants and flowers in bloom, and longer days to enjoy it all. Spring also brings an event Good Earth Plants has supported for the past 15 years: San Diego’s Art Alive. This annual fundraiser for the San Diego Museum of Art brings together floral and plant designers and art for three day celebration April 11-13, 2014. Floral designers and those in related industries (like us at Good Earth Plants) create a interpretation of a piece of art using plants and flowers as their living medium. This year, I chose the painting “Sunday Afternoon” by Hughie Lee-Smith.… Read More