Kennesaw Mountain stands over the north side of town, and on clear mornings the light comes down its slope early, catching every blade a mower missed. AFJ Landscaping works to a simpler test than that: cut it even, trim what the deck cannot reach, edge the concrete, blow the clippings back into the turf. Around Marietta the ground is red clay under thin sod, so beds get mulched, shrubs get shaped, and leaves get hauled off before they mat down and smother a fescue lawn through winter. Summer here comes on humid and fast, and a yard can go from tidy to overgrown in eight days, which is why the route runs on a rhythm instead of a whim. The reward is a small one and a real one — a property that looks square with the street.