plantscaping

Hospitals “Greening Up” Healthcare

| March 6, 2014 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Green Roofs, Nature and Wellbeing
One of the patient rooms' at Sharp Memorial Hospital that looks out over the Good Earth Plants "green roof."
If you have visited a friend of family member in a hospital, chances are you brought them flowers or a plant. Why? Besides being a thoughtful gesture, studies have shown that plants play an important role in the healing process. Viewing settings with plants or nature for a few minutes can promote measurable restoration even in hospital patients who are acutely stressed. Patients heal more quickly, use less pain medication and complain less to staff. (Ulrich, 2002) I have read lots and lots of studies about plants and healing during my years in the plant industry. This is serious science and can be summed up in one sentence: Plants make us FEEL GOOD.… Read More

News from Good Earth Plant Company: March 2014 Newsletter

| March 4, 2014 | Categories: Living Walls, Newsletters, Plantscaping
Click here to read the March 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 project, the new living wall at LPL Financial Find out about upcoming green living events Plus: Thanks A Bunch!, Lunch & Learn (CEU Program), and Good Earth Plants Is Hiring Get our newsletter first 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.

Go Green for Valentine’s Day

| February 13, 2014 | Categories: Environment, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Sustainable Living
It’s that time again. The drugstore aisles are overflowing with shades of pink and red and the Hallmark people are planning how to spend their first quarter bonus. Valentine’s Day is tomorrow! Don’t get me wrong. Now that I don’t deal on the retail side of the holiday, I’m good with buying cards and flowers and chocolate hearts. It’s a happy time, even if it started off as a rather morbid holiday. Some historians tell the tale of a man named Valentin who helped Christians escape harsh prisons. While imprisoned for his acts by the Romans, Valentin fell in love with the jailer’s daughter.… Read More

Water Water Nowhere: California’s Drought Crisis of 2014

| January 30, 2014 | Categories: Environment, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Sustainable Living, Water and Water Conservation
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 23, 2014 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Sustainable Living
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

Good Earth Plants Leaflet Newsletter: Winter 2014 Edition

| January 14, 2014 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Newsletters, Plantscaping
Click here to read our Good Earth Plant Company Winter 2014 edition of the Good Earth Leaflet newsletter. In this issue: Letter from the President Upcoming Events Featured Project: ActivCare Chula Vista Employee Spotlight: Celso Gomez Lunch & Learn Program (Continuing Education Units) Not on our newsletter email list? Want to sign up? Visit the home page of our website and scroll to the end of the page to provide us your email address.

Planting A Seed: Remembering Loren Nancarrow

| January 2, 2014 | Categories: Gardening, Media Coverage, Plantscaping, Sustainable Living
So much has already been said about San Diego environmental reporter and author Loren Nancarrow following his death from brain cancer at age 60 last week. The feelings of loss and sadness expressed by so many people were a tribute to how much of an impact he had made, probably more than he realized. Loren was one of the first members of the San Diego media to recognize the importance of rethinking our relationship to the environment and nature. It went beyond just the general gardening tips and maybe water use tips that you would read reports about or see on TV from time to time.… Read More

Good Earth Plants Wishes You A Green And Happy New Year

| December 30, 2013 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Awards & Achievements, Green Roofs, Indoor Plants, Living Walls
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

| December 23, 2013 | Categories: Good Earth Plant Company, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Newsletters
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

| December 17, 2013 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Case Studies, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Living Walls
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