The Branch Manager

About The Branch Manager

By mid-November the street trees of San Jose put on the valley's own fall show, Chinese pistaches and sweetgums burning scarlet and amber along the parkways while the lawns beneath them catch every falling leaf. The Branch Manager, as the name suggests, minds the place where branches and grass meet. A lawn under a big tree needs its leaves raked before they mat down, its edges kept clear and its turf given a fair chance at the light. When the work is done, the color stays up in the canopy where it belongs. The grass below is open, green and ready for the wet months.