Welcome to 2015 . . . The 18th year of Landscape Contractor and the 30th year for Landscape Communications.

That's right. This July will mark 30 years for LCI, publishers of (in order of appearance) Landscape Architect and Specifier News (LASN), landscapearchitect.com (LO), Landscape Contractor/DBM (LC/DBM), landscapearchitectWeekly (LOW) and producers of the Southern and Northern California Landscape Expos (TLE) and the Landscape Architects, Designers and Developers Expo (LA Expo). Whew that was a mouthful and a bit self-serving, but another birthday is just one of the things that we have to look forward to in 2015.

Also hot off the shelf is the new Product Search at landscapearchitect.com.

Ever go to Google and get non-related results? Or type in "pavers' and get thousands of images that link to pixeled graphics on obscure websites? Well, last year there were 120,000+ product searches at landscapearchitect showing tens of thousands of products and every one linked to a commercial website or phone number.

This year, those product pictures will link directly to each product's spec page on those commercial websites as more and more of the nearly 1,000 advertisers add their links to the more than 30,400 Product Profiles already on the site.

You can search for product images or for companies; nationally, by state or by area code.

Go ahead . . . Give it a try. Go to the Product Search at landscapearchitect.com and type in "pavers', "pergola' or "retaining walls' or pick from the more than 780 pre-set searches and see why landscapearchitect has become the industry wide favorite for searching out All Things Landscape . . .

Also this year, you might want to adjust your email settings, as landscapearchitectWeekly will be coming from its own domain . . . LoWeekly.com.

It is the only thing that you will receive from that domain.

If you give us an email address, every Tuesday from loweekly@loweekly.com you will receive a content-rich email with links to expanded articles from Landscape Contractor/DBM and its sister publication LASN, as well as late breaking industry news, legislative alerts, product introductions and more.

Thousands of landscape architects and contractors receive and read the email every week. So be sure to add "LoWeekly.com' to your email "accept' feature and watch for it every Tuesday.

We are also doing all kinds of behind the scenes programming to interrelate the website to the magazine and the upcoming Buyer's Guide, as well as opening up local suppliers to both resources.

So, 2015 is starting off with a bang and lots of new and improved features for your entertainment, education and professional growth are coming your way. Let's make 2015 the best year ever!!!!

God bless . . .

George Schmok, Publisher