Ridge Avenue climbs a low rise the old shoreline left behind, and the lawns on either side of it slope in ways a mower has to respect. Alanis Family Landscaping learns those grades — where the ground falls away toward the sidewalk, where a tall Victorian's front yard sits above the street like a small stage. Mowing, string trimming and edging fill most of the week, with cleanups in spring and again in late fall bracketing the whole year. Cutting a sloped yard well is mostly about direction and patience; cut it wrong and every line argues with the next. The reward comes when the machines shut off: parallel stripes lying across the grade, beds swept clean, the porch looking out over something clearly tended.