A century ago Chula Vista called itself a lemon capital, and you can still find old citrus trees leaning over backyard fences on the west side, heavy with fruit in the winter sun. Along Third Avenue the village storefronts keep their small-town scale, and the bungalow streets around them hold lawns tucked between hedges and porches. Merino Landscape Inc takes care of lawns and landscapes in Chula Vista, giving them the sort of attention an older block deserves: mowing kept even, edges cut tight along the sidewalk, hedges and borders trimmed so the house sits clear. Fall here barely announces itself, just a few cooler nights and a softer slant of light, but the lawn notices and answers good timing with a deeper green. On a January afternoon, with a lemon tree glowing over the fence, that is a yard worth stopping for.