Out toward Stilesboro and Emerson the land refuses to lie flat: yards run downhill to the road, beds terrace along the grade, and half the mowing gets done sideways across a slope. McCollum Landscaping works that country, cutting to the contour, edging where the drive bends, trimming the banks a mower cannot hold, mulching beds so a hard rain does not carry them down the hill. Shrub trimming, seasonal cleanups and leaf removal round out the year. On a still morning with mist off the pasture and the ridges stacked pale to the north, it is a fine place to be running a machine. The finished yard follows the shape of the land instead of fighting it.