The Ground Squad

About The Ground Squad

By mid-morning in July the heat has settled over Putnam County and the thunderheads are already stacking up west of town. The Ground Squad works ahead of that weather — mowers moving in step, trimmers around the oak roots and mailbox posts, hedges cut back to the window line, beds topped with dark mulch, and the clippings and limbs loaded out before the first drops land. Grass along the old rail bed of the Palatka–Lake Butler State Trail grows fast enough to keep anybody honest, and a yard that looked shaggy at breakfast can be squared away by supper. What gets left behind is stripes on the turf, a swept driveway and nothing in the street. Lawn work for Palatka and the small towns strung west along the trail.