Living Walls

A basic living wall is a plant such as ivy vines growing up the side of a building. A more complex living wall uses an engineered trellis system with plants rooted into a growing medium within the structure, but separate from the building. This system allows for more creative options. The most complex living walls systems include four elements: growing media, structural support, integrated irrigation and a drainage system.

Living walls flourish inside with the right lighting, or outside in almost any climate. They can be planted randomly or display intricate patterns. Living walls can use a recirculating irrigation system, drip irrigation with a drain, or be watered by hand.

Good Earth Plant Company conducted long-term trials of 20 different systems. We confidently recommend the best system for your location and individual needs. We know which plants work best in each setting, including how to choose and install the right irrigation system; how to make adjustments for lighting; and ongoing maintenance needs.

Our clients include homeowners, business owners, facilities managers, architects, landscape architects, interior designers, developers and general contractors. We install living walls in offices, lobbies, homes, schools, shopping malls, retail stores, restaurants, hotels, car dealers, and nonprofit settings.

Living walls conserve energy by insulating the building envelope. This reduces the need for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. They create biodiversity, conservation opportunities, and can absorb and filter stormwater, which reduces local water body pollution and helps prevent the overwhelming of municipal stormwater infrastructure.

Good Earth Plant Company’s Top Ten Workplace Design Trends to Watch for 2017

With just a few days left of 2016, Good Earth Plants has its attention focused on what’s to come for 2017. Here are our top ten predictions on workplace design trends for the next 12 months. Moss Wall Art: Preserved moss walls took our industry by storm in 2016, and there is no sign of it letting up. Look for even more creativity and innovation in these projects. We are incorporating new and different types of mosses and integrating additional materials including elements like driftwood, pods, shells and glass. There is no limit to the possibilities. We are even exploring living moss walls into very limited projects.… Read More

2016 Year In Review – How Did We Do?

Good Earth Plant Company's latest moss wall project at the Bardstown Bourbon distillery in Louisville, Kentucky.
As we head into our 40th year of operation, Good Earth Plant Company is more committed than ever to our mission to bring the beauty, health, wellbeing and environmental benefits of living plants and nature into your life. We started our business providing interior plantscaping design and service to many of the leading workspaces in the San Diego region. Plantscaping is still at the heart of what we do, but our thinking about it has evolved. Making our workplaces and homes look “nice” is a fine motivation. But we now grasp the importance of integrating nature into our lives everyday by bringing the “outside” into our buildings and our urban environment with plants, and the many positive effects of doing so.… Read More

Kermit The Frog Was Wrong: It IS Easy Being Green

The moss wall installed by Good Earth Plant Company at San Diego's newest LEED Certified building, owned by Kilroy Realty in Del Mar Heights.
I don’t remember exactly when the announcement of the Pantone Company’s “Color of the Year” became such a big deal. For the last few years at least, this American company best known for creating a universal color matching system called the “Pantone Matching System” names one color every December it thinks will be the hottest color trend in the coming year. Pantone has a committee of people who watch trends throughout the year in fashion, entertainment including films and TV, auto manufacturing, the fine art world, beauty products, and interior design. The committee members notice how the color is being used, what else it’s being used with, and whether it seems new or fresh.… Read More

Growing A Business, 39 Years and Counting

Thirty-nine years ago today, all I wanted was a way to support myself. I was almost 20 and my dad had just kicked me out of the house because I didn’t get a job over the summer. I got a part-time job while going to community college, working at an outdoor “plant stand” in the financial district of downtown San Diego. It turned into my own full-time business. Shortly after starting my gig working for “Plants on the Plaza,” the three owners decided it was too much hassle to make them any real money and they wanted to sell. Back home and at dinner that night, my Naval Captain father said, “Let’s buy it!”… Read More

San Diego Isn’t As Green As It Should Be

When the newest Green Buildings Adoption Index report came out earlier this week ranking the top 30 metropolitan areas in the United States, I checked it to see where San Diego stood. It would be in the Top Ten, right? No – and we didn’t even make the Top 20. In the report by the commercial real estate firm CBRE Group Inc. and Maastricht University in the Netherlands with the U.S. Green Building Council assessing the percentage of green, environmentally friendly and LEED certified buildings in the region, San Diego ranked 21st. This is pretty disappointing to me. San Francisco came in first, with 73.7 percent of its office space classified as “green.”… Read More

Projects Inspiring Us At Good Earth Plants RN

Regular blog readers know about my passion for improving our communities and our health and well being through strengthening our connection to nature. It’s amazing to me how something simple like introducing natural elements in our work environment like plants and natural light can reduce job stress and improve our health overall. I get inspired when I see people around the world creating projects taking this simple idea and making it real. Yes, I also admit to being a little envious too, because I would love to see more projects like this in San Diego. Several projects got a “wow” out of me and I’d like to share them with you for your daily dose of “wow” instead of a basketball trick shot or cute pet video.… Read More

Amazon Goes Big With New HQ Biosphere in Seattle

Rendering of the Amazon headquarters "biospheres" under construction in Seattle. Photo Courtesy NBBJ
Outrageous workplace perks in the tech industry have reached epic proportions. Google has the reputation of offering the most extreme benefits. Google better enjoy its status while it can. The new Amazon headquarters in downtown Seattle is going to blow Google’s free laundry services and the Facebook snack bar away. Amazon is building three massive “biosphere” type greenhouses as part of its new $4 billion headquarters in the hip Denny Regrade. These three connected greenhouses will house 65,000 square feet of tropical plants, with 3,000 different species. Compare this to the San Diego Botanical Garden in Balboa Park. It houses 2,100 species of plants in just under 20,000 square feet of space.… Read More

Cool Moss Walls: The Hottest Trend in Green Living

Good Earth Plant Company installed this moss wall at the Bluebeam software company in Pasadena, California, covering three of our hot design trends: moss walls, the WELL building standard, and the color green.
We make the rounds of all top events in the green building industry checking on the latest products and trends. I just returned from Longwood Gardens. The hot topic was hotter than San Diego’s last heat wave: moss walls. As Bernie Sanders might say, moss walls were YUUUUGE! It’s been a long time since everyone was this excited about a single product. The reasons are simple. Moss walls provide all the benefits of traditional living walls and several more. They can thrive in nearly any indoor setting. Growing conditions can be far from perfect – but they don’t need any light, water or maintenance.… Read More

Honor Mom the Good Earth Plants Way on Mother’s Day

Three generations of Mumfords together at La Jolla Shores celebrating Mother's Day in better times, May 2016: (L to R) daughter Allie, Mom, and yours truly.
For those of you who aren’t aware, let me save you from being in the doghouse with Mom the rest of the year. Sunday, May 8 is Mother’s Day. You’re welcome. It’s really hard to miss it if you’re exposed to any kind of advertising. We have been bombarded for two months with advertising reminding us to buy those flowers, chocolates, and greeting cards to honor Mom. I’ve written before about the crazy time for florists at Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day is even crazier when it comes to flowers. The Society of American Florist reports Mother’s Day is the second largest flower holiday, accounting for 24 percent of all flowers sent annually – yes, one in four floral purchases all year long is for Mother’s Day.… Read More

Workplace Green Goes a Long Way with Employees

Introducing gardens and other natural elements to urban workspaces produces a greater return on investment than other employee perks. Photo Courtesy Karen Contreras, Urban Plantations
We’re all spending a lot more time at work, as much as half our waking hours. So making your workplace a more comfortable and fun place to be makes sense. Keeping employees happy means they’ll be more productive and less likely to look for a new job somewhere else. But doesn’t it seem though like workplace trends have gone a bit weird lately? Just when we all got used to the idea of bringing your dog to work, some of the perks I’ve read about are downright wacky. How about working somewhere with a fully stocked game room from PlayStations to board games like Monopoly and Sorry?… Read More