West of Ottawa the ground turns to sand — the pale stuff this town has been digging and shipping out for generations — and it makes yards that drink fast and dry faster. K&S Lawn Service cuts, trims and edges straight through the growing season, reading which lawns need a higher blade in a dry stretch and which can take a close one. April opens it, with the first mow that turns a winter-flattened yard back into something with color and direction. After that it is week on week, tidy perimeters and a level cut, all the way to the last load of leaves. A yard that looks even on a sandy lot is earned rather than assumed.