For many of you, this may be the first time you have seen this publication. Some of you are at the GIE+Expo in Louisville and have picked up the magazine from our booth. Others are seeing LC/DBM for the first time in Sacramento at the Landscape Expo. Still others are seeing this for the first time as a part of LC/DBM's new circulation expansion efforts. You would know that because you are in Florida, Colorado or Arizona and there is a big "Welcome" on the cover of this issue.

Inside every issue you will find news about the legislation and economics affecting your business and work; columns with new ideas on design, installation and maintenance operations; features showcasing projects and people of note; and about 20 pages of advertisements in a neatly organized section we call the "Marketplace.'

To say we are a product oriented magazine is an understatement, but in addition to the products, news, features and columns, we always like to close an issue with a tale of giving back, called "Off-the-Clock,' by one or, more often, a group of your peers. Truly one of the best things about this business is the amount of goodwill spread throughout the community by the people owning the companies and running the departments across the nation in the landscape industry.

Whether you are picking LC/DBM up for the first time or are one of the 40,000 who regularly receives the magazine, we are excited to have you as a reader! And we are excited that, according to our "just-completed annual survey,' after the magazine has been passed around the yard, more than 100,000 sets of eyes peruse every issue of LC/DBM, and to all of those eyes we say Thanks!

That brings us to another big THANKS to the hundreds of readers who took the seven or eight minutes needed to take the annual LC/DBM Readership Survey. Not only do we glean valuable information about who you are, how long you have been in the business and how you are doing professionally, but the insight you give us as to what you want to read, see and explore in the publication is priceless. Please pat yourself on the back and know that we study your comments and we hope you notice that you've had an impact on the magazine, as well as an impact on the events we produce (like the Sacramento Expo) and on the website landscapearchitect.com.

So . . . Welcome to LC/DBM and Thanks for your Readership! We hope you enjoy and learn from the editorial and use LC/DBM and landscapearchitect.com (which is the largest landscape database on the web), as a great source for finding the products and knowledge you need to make every project a success!

God Bless . . .

George Schmok, Publisher