Gardening

Gardening is one of the most popular pastimes worldwide. It continues to grow in popularity. The number of people growing their own vegetables, fruit and flowers keeps increasing each year.

Gardening is an inherently healthy activity. It helps foster a sense of community in a shared passion. It breaks down barriers.  People of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels can join in. It’s fun, it doesn’t have to cost anything, and it strengthens our ties to nature – our biophilic connection.

Overall, American gardeners reported spending a record $47.8 billion on lawn and garden retail sales, the highest ever, with a record average household spend of $503 – up nearly $100 over the previous year. One-third of this comes from 18 to 34-year-olds.

Container gardening set new sales records, too.  Since many gardening enthusiasts don’t have the typical suburban backyard or much space, they’re pursuing their hobby on a smaller scale – and it’s mostly indoors.

Indoor gardening is growing like crazy. Thirty percent of all households bought at least one houseplant in the past year. Good Earth Plant Company enjoys sharing our professional expertise in indoor gardening with our readers.

Adding plants to your indoor environment at home and work provides multiple benefits to your physical and mental health. Study after study confirms plants clean your indoor air of toxins, raising humidity to healthier levels, increase the oxygen levels, buffer noise, calm your nerves and help you focus.

Fall Pruning Tips for Your Indoor Plants

Help your plants stay healthy and grow strong with timely fall pruning. Photo: Epsita M / Pexels plant pruning tips
You sure can’t tell by the San Diego weather, but fall 2020 is in full swing. You might not be feeling it, but Nature knows. Even your indoor plants know it’s fall. They also know winter is coming. Your indoor plants have been busy all spring and summer using the sun’s energy along with your regular care and watering to focus on healthy growth. Now they’ll be ready to settle in for the winter and rest. To preserve your good health, you visit your doctor every year to get a checkup. It helps you catch any health problems early so they’re easier to treat.… Read More

Party With Plants! – National Indoor Plant Week

My plant friends and I are ready to live it up for National Indoor Plant Week! Photo: Jim Mumford
It’s officially National Indoor Plant Week. Yes, it’s a real thing! It’s right up there with Naked Outdoor Gardening Day in May. It is celebrated the third week of September every year. This is one holiday COVID-19 can’t ruin for us. Your indoor plants deserve a celebration. They’ve kept you happier and healthier during the pandemic. You don’t have to worry about social distancing with your indoor plants. You can gather and party all you want, no masks required! To Good Earth Plant Company, 2020 has been National Indoor Plant YEAR. People have purchased plants in record numbers. Nurseries and garden centers remained open as essential businesses.… Read More

How to Water Your Plants Using Sub-Irrigation

Good Earth Plant Company’s advice on how to water your indoor plants hit pay dirt! Many of you read, commented, and shared the advice in our blog post last week. We are happy to help and thank you for passing our blogs on to your friends and family. The watering tips and methods we discussed all involve surface irrigation. Surface irrigation is any watering technique adding water to the soil from above the plant. Rain provides surface irrigation. But there’s one more way to water your container plants – so call this part three of our series about watering your plants.… Read More

Basic Watering Guide From Our Plant Stylists

Good Earth Plant Company's plant stylists get asked about watering more than any other topic. Photo: Torsten Dettlaff/Pexels
In last week’s blog post, we shared tips from the Good Earth Plant Company experience on whether your plants like a drink of something other than water. Readers told us they enjoyed it – and then said “But we could really use more advice about watering our indoor plants.” If there is one thing we have heard over more than 40 years as plant stylists and indoor plant technicians, it’s this. People still aren’t sure how to water their plants. Proper watering goes hand in hand with proper placement for successful indoor plants. With people spending more time inside due to the coronavirus pandemic, and more picking up plants (see below) to keep them company, we’re following up with Part 2 in our advice series.… Read More

Happy Hour: What Do Indoor Plants Like To Drink?

Drink up! Plants need water - but do our plants like to drink anything else? Photo: Pexels
After 40 years in business, we’ve learned a lot about plant care at Good Earth Plant Company, and we love to share our best tips with you. One topic never seems to get old: how much should you water your plants? More people are guilty of overwatering their plants, not underwatering them. It’s important to get this right by monitoring your plants and checking the soil. Have you ever wondered if your plants would ever like something besides water to drink? Some people use commercial liquid plant food. But what about some of the common liquids in your home?  Believe or not, the answer is – yes, sometimes!… Read More

Indoor Plants and Living Walls Are Essential Workers Too

Horticultural technician Sophie Gonzalez hard at work wearing the new custom mask she designed!
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, essential workers are those who conduct a range of operations and services that are typically “essential” to continue critical infrastructure operations. Critical infrastructure is a broad term including work sectors from energy to defense to agriculture. Most people think of law enforcement, firefighters, doctors and nurses, and other types of frontline first responders as essential workers. But hasn’t your definition changed over the past few months? I bet you’ll add grocery store workers, truck drivers, caregivers, and the people who make toilet paper to this list now. There are so many unsung heroes grinding away who make things work.… Read More

Don’t Be A Buzz Kill! It’s National Pollinator Week

We know you might be distracted by everything going on in the world, so give us a minute or two of your attention. The planet is counting on you. “National Pollinators Week” is officially here from June 22 – 28 and it’s worth taking just a few minutes to learn why it’s important to support pollinators and reverse a growing crisis for our planet. National Pollinators Week got started in 2006 through an official U.S. Senate resolution. That year, there was a mysterious loss of honey bee colonies in the United States. Pollinators are vital to 75 percent of the world’s food crops, from avocados to zucchini; and 90 percent of the world’s flowering plants.… Read More

Hot Tip: Add Humidity For A Healthier Office Space 

Could raising indoor air humidity by using plants help prevent the spread of COVID-19? Some scientists now think so. Photo: Daria Shevtsova / Pexels
Are you a little anxious about returning to the office? You aren’t alone.  Several polls show people worry about being exposed to the coronavirus when they go back to the workplace. Depending on the poll, 60 to 75 percent of people surveyed say they’re worried about this, and worried about being exposed by their co-workers. It’s enough to make a person want to work from home forever. But this isn’t always possible or even a good idea long term. We understand how much a healthy workspace can make a difference at Good Earth Plant Company. We have been working with clients to improve the health and wellbeing of their employees and visitors in all kinds of indoor spaces for more than four decades!… Read More

Tips for New Plant Parents

Plenty of people have brought new plants home to keep them company during the pandemic shutdown. Photo: Valeria Ushakova / Pexels
First it was toilet paper and alcohol wipes. Then it was hair color, followed by flour and yeast. During the coronavirus pandemic, people cleared the shelves of basic items they were desperate to find. Next, it was things they needed to entertain themselves, Who knew there would be a rush on baking bread at home? In the third wave, people looked around at their homes which were now also their offices and their kids’ schools and realized something important was missing. House plants! They are flying off the shelves and out of the garden centers. The National Gardening Association is fielding half a million questions a week from gardeners.… Read More

Social Distancing: World Naked Gardening Day 2020

Good Earth Plant Company stands behind WNGD! Photo: Jim Mumford
What started out as a joke turned into one of Good Earth Plant Company’s most popular blog post of all time. Who knew we would become the champions of World Naked Gardening Day? ‘Many are called but few are chosen.’ World Naked Gardening Day takes place the first Saturday in May. Seattle resident and WNGD founder Mark Storey probably never imagined how big his idea would get. He encourages people to help spread the word, and we won’t let him down even from quarantine. The world has changed a LOT since we last celebrated World Naked Gardening Day. We’ve missed other holidays along the way.… Read More