Benefits of LED Lighting

LED is the revolution in outdoor lighting.  It has a long list of benefits over traditional lighting options. Preferred uses several different brands of LED but this list will focus on the specific benefits of the Kichler brand of LED lighting.

• LED lights have a life expectancy of 50,000 hours - that is an average of 15 years! 
• LED uses 75% less energy than traditional lighting.  This is better for the environment and saves you money. 
• LED doesn't attract insects - enjoy your yard without the annoyance of light fixtures that attract bugs
• LED lights are smaller than tranditional lights and blend in with the landscape.
• The Kichler LED lights have a 15 year warranty.

Summer = BBQ

When summer arrives,  most of us await the BBQ season with our mouths watering!  Cooking outdoors is always more fun then cooking inside and it is even easier when you have the right equipment.

Preferred Landscape and Lighitng is excited to be a dealer of the  BeefEater brand of barbeques.  BeefEater is a leading brand in high end barbeques and they are designed and manufactured to the hightest standards; using quality materials and featuring leading product innovations.

What makes BeefEater better?  Here are just a few reasons....

1.  High heat output - The stainless steel burners have a high buT ratings and are located in close proximity to the primary cooking surfaces.  This combination helps produce an extremely hot cooking environment.
2.  Grill and Griddle Cooking Surfaces - Have both styles of cooking surfaces allow for greater flexibility in preparing a wide variety of food on teh BBQ, allowing you to cook a 'complete meal' on the grill at anytime of hte day.
3.  Modular Design - BeefEater barbecues have the flexibility to be customized to your individual tatstes with a wide variety of accessories available - even a pizza hood if you desire!

If you are interested in learning more about BeefEater line of products, please give us  a call 210-657-7737

We are on the fast track!

We are honored to be a part of the San Antonio Business Journal's 2011 Fast Track Companies! 

The Fast Track contest identifies the best companies across a wide-variety of industries including technology, financial services, health care and government.. The San Antonio Business Journal starts the Fast Track contest in late spring, sending out a survey to companies for them to provide detailed information about their revenue growth over a three-year period (2008 - 2010). All companies will be recognized at an awards luncheon being held at the Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, TX on Friday August 19th.

Summer Night Lights

 

Summer nights are the perfect time to enjoy the outdoors while escaping the heat of the day.  The right outdoor lights can turn your ordinary yard into an enchanted garden. 

Light up the night with new state of the art LED lighting. Create a full moon effect given by properly placed fixtures at strategic locations creating dramatic light and shadows across your yard and landscape.  Create a intimate dining area setting your arbor aglow.

The final word on Composting your lawn

It is not recommended to apply more tha 1/2" of product at any one time.  Therefore, it may require two applications per year to someone who is trying to salvage a troubled lawn, or someone who is continuing to improve an already near perfect stand of turf.

Regardless of your situation, topdressing your lawn with compost is a great way to apply organic based nutrients that build up soil structure and help you manage your lawn in a safe and environment-friendly way.

When to compost your lawn? What blend of compost is best?

The recommended time of year to apply compost to your lawn is late spring/early summer, or in the fall.  This process must take place when the grass is aggressively growing and not lying dormant, such as the winter months.  It is highly recommended that you use a compost belend that contains very little manure, but drives most of it's organic value from grass clippings, vegetable waste, horse bedding, wood shavings (or a combination of them all), or something equally as "clean" and not a raw form of a manure product.

Top Dressing your Lawn - a do-it-yourself project?

Because the process of applying compost is labor intensive, many people hire someone to complete the work.  Companies such as Preferred Landscape and Lighting have the ability to apply a calculated amount of compost to your lawn without the risk of burying it too deep, which can quickly do mor harm than good as a super thick layer will "burn" and suffocate the turf.  The self-propelled machines that apply the perfect amount of product are preferred over the big blower type machines.

Top 3 benefits of Composting your lawn

Topdressing your lawn with compost is beneficial for many reasons:
1. Most importantly, it adds nutrients and living microbes to the soil environment
2. It encourages more water applied through rain or sprinkler systems to stay in the turf zone before it evaporates
3. It enourages a healthier "drought tolerant" root structure

Composting...As Good as it Gets for your lawn!

One of the most earth-friendly and well known, but often over-looked process in the beautification of your lawn, is the application of compost over the top of your turfgrass.  Commonly referred to as "topdressing", this process allows a think layer of your favorite compost, top soil, sand, or manure to be applied to your lawn in amounts that will breakdown and decompose in order to feed both the grass and the soil.  If this process is repeated on an annual or semi-annual rotation, the soil structure will greatly improve.

Do you topdress your lawn?  Check back with us next week as we continue to discuss tips on the best ways to care for your lawn!