The first frost in Ashley County comes late and lands light, silvering the open ground for an hour before the sun takes it back. Hawkins Property Maintenance, LLC works that turn of the year — the final low cut taken, leaves and limbs cleared from the yard and the fence line, and the edges cut back where the woods have been leaning in all summer. Come spring the same properties are handed back open and green, ready for the weekly mowing, trimming and edging that carries through to fall. Some of this ground runs to acres, and holding it uniform takes patience more than horsepower. Winters are short here; the mower is never idle for long.