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All of the new business opportunities we saw at Spring Fling last month have us excited! We're ready for the season and are stocked up with all of the hot new things for 2014.
Let us know how we can help you get the season started!
 Question of the Month: How often do you take advantage of CPS delivery service?
March questions of the month:
Do you plan on attending Spring Fling?
YES 89%
Maybe 11%
What is your favorite part of Spring Fling?
Specials 32%
Famous Dave's Lunch 39%
Classes 39%
Vendors 46%
Grand Prize Giveaway 17%
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In Memory of Grace Koldeway
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Our friend and colleague, Grace Koldeway from our Boulder branch passed away on March 9, 2014. Grace will missed by all of us at CPS and our customers who visited our Boulder branch regularly. All of us at CPS distributors send our heartfelt condolences to Grace's family and friends. She will be missed but always remembered!
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Spring Fling 2014: Thank You to ALL!
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We want to thank all of our customers, vendors and instructors who participated in Spring Fling 2014. Mother Nature treated us with a warm and sunny day, setting the stage for a great 2014 landscape season.
On the show floor.
Becky Garber from ALCC talking to customers
The pit crew from Famous Dave's
Grand prize winner
Visit our Spring Fling album for more pictures of the day.
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How Competitive Convergence Kills Profits
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By: Steve Coughran, CPA of Coughran Consulting, Inc.
 Any business owner knows that in order to make money and ultimately be a success, you have to compete with other businesses. Whether you are a start-up landscape company competing with a more established firm or Valley Crest competing with Brickman, you always have to have one eye on what the competition is doing.
Unfortunately, many business owners take this idea to mean that they should always be competing to be the absolute best in their category. This is human nature, and from one perspective it certainly makes sense. If a business can offer the very best product or service, then it will make more money and the company will "win." But this strategy is actually not the best way to succeed.
Click here to read the full story and get competitive tips.
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Extended Spring Hours Begin Monday
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 Our Spring and Summer hours begin on Monday, April 7th. Extended hours provide you with more flexibility to pick-up materials on your way to the job site.
We will be open Saturdays beginning on April 12th.
CPS Spring Hours
7:00am to 4:30pm Monday - Friday
8:00am to NOON on Saturdays.
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CPS Counter Days
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It's that time of year again: Counter Days at CPS.
Mark your calendar for the first Counter Day at our Lakewood Branch on May 8th. Hunter Industries / FX Luminaire / Borgert Products / ALCC will all be there.
Click here for the Counter Day BBQ Schedule for May!
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Kichler Offers TaskWork LED Tape Lighting for Outdoor Installations
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 Kichler takes LED tape lighting to a new level with TaskWork LED Tape in an outdoor/wet option. The sleek, ultra-low profile of the outdoor/wet TaskWork LED Tape is ideal for nighttime navigation and accent lighting on decks, patios, gazebos and more. Perfect for enhancing railings and other hardscape areas, this highly flexible, 24-volt tape is fully dimmable and comes in a variety of color options and convenient lengths up to 20 feet. Once installed, the sleek fixture disappears and leaves targeted areas awash in light to aid in task work and nighttime navigation, as well as highlight architectural features. In addition, this durable tape light is fully sealed and listed UL2108 and UL1838 for wet locations. Kichler's outdoor/wet high-lumen output TaskWork LED Tape (200 lumens per foot) is ideal for decks, patios and pool areas. The outdoor/wet tape can also be used on steps, benches and railings in outdoor areas as an added safety feature for easy nighttime navigation.
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Stop Hauling Wheelbarrows of Gravel for Drainage - Use Convenient NDS EZ Flow Instead
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EZ Flow Gravel Free French Drain System from NDS is proven to cut labor costs by 50% OR MORE - Try it for FREE - up to 50' from NDS.
The revolutionary EZ Flow gravel free french drain system from NDS is used in place of traditional gravel, pipe and trench liner combination for a variety of drainage applications.
On a typical 50' French drain system, EZ Flow can be installed in under 10 minutes once the trench is dug. This is an incredible labor savings that can allow contractors to double their efficiency. There is no messy gravel clean up after the job - another key benefit that saves time. Click here for a video that takes you through a side by side installation comparison of both EZ Flow and a traditional French drain.
NDS is offering a free trial on the product. Over 3,000 contractors have taken advantage of the EZflow Free Trial offer and more than 80% have used the product again after trying it.
Go to the NDS website to see case studies of EZ Flow installations, read technical data, check out a video and see common applications for the product. Be sure to contact us about the NDS free product trial and get started saving money today! You can also visit NDS' exclusive contractors only website for special offers and free marketing tools to help you sell and install drainage.
EZflow Web Page for case studies, free trial offer and videos
NDS Youtube Channel for more videos
NDS Contractor Website
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| Sizing Wire Runs Properly | | Professional Tips from Regency Wire and Cable
 How far can you run 18 gauge irrigation wire and still have the valve operate properly?
The answer to this question requires some basic understanding of the concept of "voltage drop". When electricity is flowing through a wire, some voltage is lost due to resistance in the wire. The amount of voltage loss is dependent upon the length of the circuit, the number and quality of splices, the size/resistance of the particular wire being used and the amount of current flowing through the wire (the amp draw of the solenoid).
Electrical resistance is comparable to friction loss in piping. As water flows down a pipe, it loses pressure (PSI). As current flows down a wire, it loses voltage.
Let's consider a "normal" installation: a single irrigation solenoid that needs 0.25 amps at 24 volts AC to operate properly that is located 750 feet from the controller. Let's assume voltage output at the controller is at least 24 volts. The total length of the circuit we need to consider is 1,500 feet (750 feet out to the solenoid on the "hot" wire and 750 feet back on the "common" wire.)
If the wire is too small or is run too far, the valve won't receive enough current to open or close against the pressure of the water. The higher the water pressure is, the greater the current must be to actuate the solenoid.
With 85 psi static pressure at the valve and a standard solenoid, 18-gauge wire might be used for total circuit runs up to 2,000 feet, unless otherwise specified by the manufacturer. So it would be safe to use for a single solenoid circuit up to 750 feet away.
If you're sizing long wire runs, please ask us to help you make the right wire size choices. You don't want to install the wrong size!
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Atlantic Water Gardens University
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 Atlantic Water Gardens is proud to announce new additions to Atlantic Water Gardens University.
AWG University is an ongoing, objective information resource that tackles the tough questions water gardeners have and provides the information needed to design, install and maintain water features of all styles, presented in an accessible, easy to read format.
Keeping with the open, non-partisan platform, the University is always looking for industry contributors, our 'Visiting Professors', to present solid, readable information from every point of view. For more information, visit AWG University On-Line
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| New Luxor and Luxor Wi-Fi Take Lighting Control to a New Level | | FX Luminaire has taken lighting control to a whole new level.
 Luxor is FX's newest, easy-to-use LED lighting controller featuring zoning and dimming capabilities. Now available, Luxor allows you to customize your lighting jobs with virtually limitless design possibilities. Zoning allows lights to be programmed into preset groups that can be turned on or off depending on the occasion. The dimming feature allows LED lights to emit any desired illumination percentage.
The Luxor Wi-Fi system is the next step in control for landscape lighting, adding onto the already versatile and limitless capabilities of the Luxor ZD. Zoning and dimming are now controllable with iOS and Android devices for on-the-fly control. For example, the lights can be initiated immediately when walking outside to have dinner or going to the pool, and then dimmed to set a mood, then return to normal schedule when finished.
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