On the north side, Sixth Avenue climbs past Highland Park and the streets tip toward the river bluff, so no two yards lie quite flat. Alex's Lawncare LLC starts at first light, when the dew is still heavy and the rocket slide at Union Park stands alone against a pink sky. Spring comes on quick in Des Moines — one warm week and the lawns need cutting twice — and the route tightens to keep up. Mowing across a slope takes a slower hand and a truer eye, and the reward is a hillside yard that reads as one clean sheet from the curb. String trimming around the retaining walls and porch steps finishes what the deck cannot.