green

Tips for Protecting Your Plants in a Cold Snap

It’s no secret that the past few days have been unseasonably cold. With relative humidity below 20 percent, San Diego has experienced freezing temperatures at night that endanger our gardens. Nothing new for those folks back East! My colleagues in Boston deliver sub-tropical plants to offices using heated trucks and heated passageways from the back of the truck to the loading dock. Temperatures below freezing can harm plants that are used to indoor temperatures. If they can do it in Boston, we can save our garden flowers and plants during this cold snap. Here’s how to protect your garden from freezing over in the next few days: Move potted tender plants indoors or into a warmer area.… Read More

Poinsettia Pointers: Tips, Myths, and Facts

Pointsettia Tips
It seems like every holiday season, I find myself once again defending the honor of the famous Euphorbia pulcherrima, commonly known as the poinsettia. Urban legends and myths abound regarding this hearty holiday bloom, falsely accusing it as being toxic or poisonous to humans and animals. Lies! All lies and deception! To be less dramatic and completely factual, a 1996 study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine found that out of 22,793 reported cases of poinsettia exposure in children, not only were there no fatalities, but 92.4% of the subjects experienced no toxic effects at all. These unique plants are of interesting heritage.… Read More

Good Earth Leaflet Newsletter: Fall 2013 Issue

Click here to read our Fall 2013 edition of the Good Earth Leaflet newsletter. In this issue: Letter from the President Upcoming Events Employee Spotlight: Dawn Weatherford Lunch & Learn Program (Continuing Education Units) Featured Project: Pure Fitness 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.  

Bringing the Outdoors In

After a long week of reviewing designs for living walls and finalizing contracts for green roofs, I often toss some work in my leather bag and head home to finish up in my “sanctuary,” AKA my living room. With a panoramic view of a lush canyon complete with mature trees, California scrub and a pseudo meadow,  my second story living room is at treetop level. The view is spectacular: gracefully aging eucalyptus and ash trees surrounded by palms and an old and twisted Hollywood juniper. It is in my big chair, in my living room that I am able to take a deep breath and exhale the day.… Read More

Just a Crack in the Sidewalk

When I get busy, it’s easy for me to become focused on the minute particles that make up my life. The garden needs watering. The car needs to go in for service. I’ve got to mail that insurance payment. Most importantly, I must fix my darned office chair so that it swivels properly! You laugh, but I will bet you have a similar list somewhere. An endless stream of small details that need to be completed before the end of the week. Like little flies buzzing around your mind that demands your attention in order to find some quiet. All the while, Nature just rolls along.… Read More

Our Biophilia Connection to Nature

Nature with waterfall
At some time in life, we all become interested in something new and different. Maybe we take up making sushi or read a book on building a treehouse and get inspired to make one. For me I am intrigued by the word biophilia. I got interested in it years ago and whenever I see an article about it I think…hey! I was thinking about that years ago! Your next question might be: what is biophilia? And why does it haunt Jim Mumford? Here’s my best shot at a definition. Biophilia is basically an appreciation of life, nature, science and the living world.… Read More

The Value of Appreciation

“People don’t work for wages only. They primarily seek an environment that will show them APPRECIATION, both publicly and privately. Wages come and go. As we travel through life, the most important memories we take with us are about how those who showed us Appreciation and Love.”—Rev. Ken Lanning, 1996. I love this quote. Reverend Ken is a stand-up guy who visits our office on occasion. Once I remember I was eager to show him our green roof, but wary of him getting up to the roof itself. I needn’t have worried though because just as I looked to find a more sturdy lift, there was Reverend Ken climbing a ladder at age 83 to see what all the hoopla was about with my roof.  … Read More

My TEDx Experience

Speaking with students is a prospect filled with questions: Will they be interested? Will I sound relevant? Is my topic “cool” enough? Is the word “cool” still “cool?” As I get older I find I look at youth and wonder if they go through the things I went through. Or have computers and social media changed us all so dramatically that it’s impossible for us to relate to each other? I was fortunate to be asked to speak at the TEDx Youth Conference last November and my 17 year old son Theodore attended the presentation. I had ten precious minutes to get everyone to think about plants and why they are important to us.  … Read More

Selling Plantscaping to Upper Management

6 Keys to Getting the Green-light to Green-Up Your Office As the Facilities or Operations Manager, your job is a delicate balance of keeping the company running smoothly and managing what seems like tighter and tighter budgets. Upper management expects you to ‘do more for less’ year after year and at some point, a priority needs to be made on the company workspace aesthetics and sustainability. After all, a well-heeled reception area and conference room can project an image of a company that prospects want to do business with and employees want to work for. Interior and exterior plantscaping is not just the “living art” that beautifies a space, it can also create a work environment that improves air quality, reduces absenteeism and increases both productivity and employee morale.… Read More