Lickteig's

About Lickteig's

North of Cresco the ground remembers that the glaciers went around it — the ridges fold, the Upper Iowa River cuts its own mind through limestone, and a lawn here has to be read before it is cut. Lickteig's works those slopes and level squares of Howard County the way a person works land they know by heart: mowing in clean passes, trimming tight to foundations and fence lines, edging until the walk has a border you could follow in the dark. Late June mornings come up green and heavy with dew, and by noon a yard can look pressed flat and combed. Fall turns the work to cleanups, when the shade trees along the side streets let go all at once and the job becomes carrying the year off the grass. It is lawn care in a town where people notice, and the noticing is half the pleasure.