Around the first of April the canals fill and a sound comes back to this valley that had been missing all winter — water moving along the highline, headgates open, everything downstream getting ready to be green. Grand Valley Landscaping Services starts its year on that signal: the first cut, the winter debris raked out, beds tidied, edges recut along drives and walks. From there it's mowing and trimming week by week through a growing season that runs long and hot. A lawn brought up carefully in spring holds its color deep into the fall, and that's the payoff worth working toward. It is old-fashioned tending, done in a valley that has always run on water and timing.